Something Different
by DawnDestination
Summary: Merida looked at the enemy she was meant to despise. Hiccup looked at the daughter of the man who killed his mother. It seemed the war between the two clans were meant to be ceaseless. No one could change that. They were meant to be enemies. They were meant to hate each other. But for these two heirs, one look, and they both knew they were meant for something different.
1. Night Encounters

"I dream of the day where men can own beautiful and dangerous things, and use them wisely."

-Grimbeard the Ghastly, How To Be A Pirate

~O~

Night Encounters

* * *

Merida gritted an apple in her mouth in the midmost of their kitchen, trying her best to look occupied while snatching a plate full of desserts. Time had slipped her fingers as she walked through the halls with a breathless pace. The great doors of their dining hall opened, revealing her family already at dinner and eating away. Her brothers were clearly not justified on the meals they had thought they deserved to eat. Her father, Fergus, king of their clan, never stopped talking about his legendary fight with Stoick the Vast, which quite worsened their condition.

"From nowhere, the biggest Viking you've ever seen! His hide littered with the weapons of fallen warriors — his fists clenched as I knocked off his hammer! I drew my sword…" he waved the chicken leg he was eating. Harris imitated him, drawing his own imaginary sword. He was about to roar when another voice interrupted him.

"And whoosh!" Merida exclaimed to her brothers. "With one blow of Stooick the Vast, dad's leg was clean off!"

"Aww," Fergus sighed. "That was my favorite part."

"Stoick has never been seen since," she continued in a more serious tone of voice. "Legends say he will return from the wild with beasts far more terrifying than bears, waiting for his revenge…" she whirled around her father, making eerie noises.

She set down the platter, and along came her bow, which earned her a disapproving glare from her mother.

"Merida, how many times do I have to tell you not to put your weapons on the table?" She calmly inquired while reading a letter in hand.

"Obviously ye haven't stopped trying after forty. So why stoop now?" She replied, still chewing about of the apple from her mouth. She spluttered and giggled when a piece managed to escape from her drooling mouth.

"Merida, a princess must always present proper manners." Elinor reprimanded, to which only Merida responded with a glower. Her mother suddenly noticed the abundance of desserts just beside her. "You'll get dreadful collywobbles. Oh, Fergus! Will ye look at your daughter's plate?" Her husband immediately turned to her almost at once, fear marked all over the contours of his stiff yet cheerful face.

He had his own large platter of food. Merida wrinkled her nose at her father as he chuckled in return. "Let her be, Elinor! She needs a full stomach, you know." The Queen rolled her eyes.

"Stubbornness; comes from your side of the family." Elinor mumbled, and continued reading the letter. Her eyes scanned to the nifty scribbling of each of the great lord's response to her invitation. As soon as she had read the last, she suddenly exclaimed.

"Fergus! They've all accepted!" Her eyes were bright and gleeful. Merida looked just as confused as her brothers when they were being asked by their mother to try and eat a good deal of healthy fare.

"Who's accepted what, Mother?"

Elinor looked confident, smiling away as she faced Merida with an effervescent face. "Merida, I think its finally time that a young lady such as yourself is finally taking a very serious responsibility," she cleared her throat. "I think ye are very much ready."

"For what?"

"The lords are presenting their sons as suitors for yer betrothal." Merida looked down to her plate, trying to comprehend what her mother had just said. Betothal? Marriage? Her? What?!

Elinor inched a bit closer to her daughter, who she noticed was hardly breathing. Her eyes were fixed on the food, but her mind was clearly set on the marriage issue. "Merida, you're getting married." There was an unnerving silence, before Merida jumped in her seat. Slabs of meat smacked the floor while vegetables rolled underfoot.

"WHAT?! DAAAD!"

"And here we go." Fergus sighed. He tried smiling at her, but she couldn't return the mirthful gleam in his eye.

Elinor rose, trying to calm her daughter. "Calm down, Merida. Its just marriage, not the end of the world."

"Ah will not!" Her face now matched the beets that were staining the floor.

"A princess does not raise her voice,"

"I'd rather die than be a princess locked up wi'in these walls, Mum!" She banged her fist against the table. "Wha' makes ye think I want tae do this?"

"Merida, you know very well our kingdom has followed this tradition for hundreds of years." Elinor said. "And we are in grave need of allies against a threat that could jeopardize our kingdom."

_Berk. _Merida thought, and suddenly enraged with every living thing on the island.

Fergus Dunbroch's archenemy, Stoick the Vast, had chopped off his leg in a bloody battle of the Scottish and Vikings back when Merida was very young. Then, the Scottish have angered the Vikings, when they killed Valhallarama, the wife of Stoick the Vast. And now, Stoick had wished nothing upon his highland enemies, but sworn vengeance.

Legends say he will return with beasts even more frightening than bears. Merida had heard all of the legends and stories, that was what motivated her to fend for herself, and not end up being one legged like her father.

Vikings are the terrors of the seas, the scourge of civilization, great Barbarian Warriors of the North. Not a soul in Scotland wanted a Viking Soul in their motherland.

"Aye, but you cannae just marry me off like some desperate wee lass. I will never fall in love, Mum! I won't go through with that," She yelled as she stood up, causing her chair to scrape over the stone floor. She picked up her bow and arrow and yelled. "And ye can't make me!"

"Merida, stop!" But it was too late, the stubborn princess of Dunbroch had already fled the halls.

Merida had to chide Angus a number of times as she led him from the stable. Eager to be free of his stall, the young stallion was skittish, tossing his head and almost treading on her heels. When she finally mounted herself upon him, Angus trotted towards the gate, his speed steadily increasing. When they hit onto the valley floor, he burst into a gallop. She leaned forward, letting her horse leap into a flat run. He stretched out, riding out into the glen like a gale in pursuit of the forest ahead of them.

The moon tore through the sky decked in heavy clouds, penetrating the forest in individual, blue rays. Streams of mist reached down, finger-like, to grasp the hillsides which had just begun to glow with the passing of summer.

Angus reveled his speed, as well as giving out a whinny of excitement. With his nose blowing hard against the wind lashing through her cheeks, she couldn't hear the startling cry that struck her horse with fear.

Merida let out a yell as Angus sprang forward with a sudden jolt, leaping into the moor. She righted herself into the saddle and hauled back on his mane, despite all her strength put in the effort, Angus was aflame with his own power and wouldn't stop kicking his legs like a roiling thunder ready to burst into storm.

"Angus!" she mumbled in his mane. He ignored her, running as if the hordes of hell were in pursuit of him. He plunged on with a shrill whinny. Merida grasped the horse's neck and gave it a sharp jerk. At the same moment, she shouted with all the breath she saved from screaming. "ANGUS STOP!"

Startled by her shout and the sudden jerk upon his mane, he abruptly stopped. His hooves slid along the wet ground sending a shower of grass and soil in cascade around them. While the horse stopped, Merida did not. She catapulted over his neck and head, crashing to the ground on her back, Merida rolled back on her feet, driving her hair out of the way.

"Angus!" She scolded, but her horse seemed to pay her no heed. She watched Angus looked at the sky in feverish gaze, fear and terror washed up on the shores of his black, liquid eyes.

Two silver streaks sailed into view, but incredibly fast. Merida narrowed her eyes into thin slits as she focused on the sky. A sound edged her forward, and she knew it was no ordinary sound. It was far too steadier than the usual fall and rise of fickle spring gusts. She plunged deeper into the darkness, curiosity getting the best of her.

A blue mist crept out from the sodden thickets. It was a wisp, and it was leading her to the darker side of the forest. She had this sudden urge to follow it. Merida looked behind her to see a reluctant Angus.

"Angus, come!" She beckoned with a wave of her hand. Angus gave a snort and hid beyond the thicket of bushes.

"Oh come now ye wee baby!" Merida said in a hoarse whisper. "Fine then." She scoffed, turning away and following the wisp. The young stallion blew his nose hard, yet sprang forward to follow her anyways.

Merida was starting to get excited. Whenever she touched one, another wisp would appear, with only a slight distance of difference. The farther they had gotten, the more trees scattered and encompassed them. They were all so still, like pillars of a solemn temple. After they passed by five wisps when Angus stopped once more in his tracks.

"Angus, wha' now?" She huffed. He replied by standing up on his hind legs and pumped his front hoofs into the hair. "Will ye calm down? There's absolutely nothing…" she whirled around to find four, large yellow eyes staring into her own.

"…there." She breathed.. Caught in the moonlight, the animal's features were made plain, and Merida twisted at the sight. Never had she seen such a creature in her life. Its skin feverish green and dotted with yellow streaks on its scaly back, its skin leathery and whittled with spikes. Its talons slashed the air in frustration as it hovered towards her.

What's worse, it had two heads. Two heads, one body. Had Angus thrown her hard enough to make her this insane? She hadn't had enough time to think. When the creature neared her enough, Angus let out a shrill whinny, causing its pupils to suddenly morph into thin, black lines.

It launched at Merida with its razor sharp teeth, gnawing at clawing at her when she immediately ducked. Angus sprang forward, but the creature's tail lashed him with one swipe, throwing the stallion against the bark of an oak tree. It began chasing Merida away from Angus, blocking her way whenever she tried to run to him.

"Angus!" She called out as she ran as fast as she could, making brief shifts and turns to make the creature slip with every move she made. Merida eventually tripped, and it wasn't long before the creature stood on top of her, ready to chew off the head of his evening victim. Its hot breath sniffed her face and tickled her cheeks, and the princess closed her eyes to avoid seeing how her fate turned out to be.

She thought the next thing she would hear was the sound of her head being chewed on by this creature, but instead, it was another voice. Human voice. "Barf! Belch!" Merida heard the constant flapping of wings nearby, slowing when its feet reached the ground with a thud. At once, she felt the heavy weight of the animal's body lifted from hers. Surprised, she opened her eyes to see the creature splattered on the ground, its head bent low in surrender.

In front of it, was a person she assumed the voice belonged to. But this person seemed so foreign to her. He didn't look Scottish at all. He wore chausses instead of the traditional Scottish skirts and decked in brown leather vests over his pale green shirt. She was lost for words when she saw, just beside him, was another one of those creatures. Just as scaly, yet was the colour of dusk, and its eyes were yellow and enormous.

Before she could reach out to grab his attention the boy became alarmed and quickly swung himself onto the saddle of the black creature and took off, tailing him was the green creature who had previously wanted to eat the living daylights out of her. Their silhouettes were outlined by the moon, making them look like tiny little birds slowly fading to the string of clouds and stars.

She didn't know who he was, or what he is exactly or how he managed to make a creature a hundred times larger than him submit to his command. She had never seen it before. There had actually might be some truth about the ancient prophesies and legends for there was something unusual about him that made chills race down her spine.

He was something different, and she had this feeling she would see him again.

Legends repeating itself. Prophesies coming true. The existence of what never existed. She knew it couldn't be possible.

Despite of that, something tells her that everything she knows is about to change.

* * *

A/N: This was something far different from my usual fandoms, but I really love this couple! They give me so many feels. Do you ship them hard too? If you do, here's a donut *hands out virtual donuts* Let me know if you enjoyed the donuts..oh and the this chapter too XD.


	2. Legend of The Two Kingdoms

"Legends are lessons. They ring with truth."

~Elinor Dunbroch

* * *

~O~

The Legend of The Two Kingdoms

* * *

"Hiccup, I need you to scout the woods of the highlands. Yer twin friends' dragons were missing for days and we can't afford the Scottish knowing about us training these beasts," Stoick the Vast told him as Hiccup entered their house.

"Why not let Ruffnut and Tuffnut find their own dragons instead?" He asked.

Stoick grabbed the hilt of his axe. "Because I can't trust them to be cautious around the Scottish woodlands. Ye and Toothless will have no trouble hunting the forests without being seen" He aimed at the map of Scotland, narrowed his eyes and flung his axe towards it, splitting the Highlands and Berk in rips.

"Alright, I'll…uh…go find them now." He said, taking his helmet and tucking it near his chest. He could still hear the jagged laughs of his father catapulting more weapons to the symbol of the Dunbroch clan as he went out.

"Hey, Hiccup! Any news about our dragons?" Ruffnut elbowed him as the twins popped out of nowhere. He winced, gently rubbing his arm.

"Can you please stop that? And yes, about that…" He started, walking towards Toothless sleeping with his head on his front paws. "I'm going to have to look for Barf and Belch…alone."

"What? Why? Where's the fun in that?" Tuffnut complained, folding his arms across his chest.

"Yeah, well, see, my dad thinks they might have gone somewhere…to the Highlands." Hiccup told them, unconvinced himself if the Zipplebacks have really gone to such a place. Dragons were more inclined to islands with surrounding oceans, rivers with great depths and coasts with towering mountains since their diet mostly comprised fish.

"Ah, I see. The highlands, the people who think they're so awesome and so high that they could kill us in one swipe," Tuffnut said crossly. "Why don't I travel to the Highlands and personally kick their butts?"

"Do you even know where that is?" Ruffnut asked, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sure it's some land that's high. I mean, duh, it's probably called the highlands for some obvious reason."

"It's far North of Berk, Tuff," Astrid suddenly jumped from one tree log to another. She rested her elbow in the hilt of her axe. "A person can get stuck in the middle of the sea if their brains work like yours."

Hiccup smiled. "Besides, you two don't have dragons…" he pointed to himself. "I do."

"I just don't get it, how could they fly away from me?" Tuffnut asked, a little disappointed as he and Ruff walked away towards their house. Ruffnut seemed a little depressed as well. It had been three whole days of being dragon less. Life on Berk seemed tolerable with dragons, without them, it was almost torture.

"Maybe they just realized who their owners are," Astrid whispered to Hiccup, who chuckled deftly as he placed an arm on Toothless' snout.

"Wake up, bud, we need to do some midnight errands." Toothless yawned, blinking repeatedly while sniffing Hiccup's palm. He faced Astrid, who suddenly lashed his arm with her dagger.

"Ow!" Blood trickled down, racing towards his wrists. Toothless' ears perked up, hissing softly at Astrid. "Why would you do that?" Hiccup angrily asked, clapping a hand over the shallow but bloody wound.

"Zipplebacks can sniff out your blood. It'll give you a better chance at finding Barf and Belch," she explained casually. "Just pray to Thor it's _our_ Zipplebacks that find you." Hiccup winced as he pulled away his arm and gazed at the blood that stained his palm.

"Wonderful." He said drily.

"Why would your dad send you to the Highlands just to see if Barf and Belch are there?"

"He probably wants to get rid of me," he added with a laugh. "Funny how he sends me to one of the most dangerous places we've ever known and expects me to come back alive."

"Well, maybe he trusts you'll do what's best for the village. The Scots can't know we train dragons. It's our only way to win this war," she reasoned. "Just be careful out there. Try not to be seen."

"Well, nobody really saw me when I was a kid so that won't be a problem."

"No, really, Hiccup. Be careful out there. The Scottish are just awful people," she said. "Kill them if they see you."

Hiccup frowned, casting his gaze down at his feet. "I don't get it, Astrid. Why are we killing them? It's just, it's just not right." He whirled around Toothless to get into the saddle. Astrid blocked him by striking her axe on the ground, the sharp edges catching moonlight in its surface just inches from Hiccup's face.

"Do you even hear yourself, Hic? The Highlanders killed your Mom! Feel anything for those beasts but pity."

"I know that. But it makes us no better than them," he said as he slid into the saddle. "I do hate the fact that they killed her. But if we do nothing than just throw daggers and arrows at each other, this war, all this blood and chaos will never end.

"It will, Hiccup. With the help of our dragons, we can finally win this. If you train our dragons hard enough, we can." Astrid reassured him. "The took our lands and killed hundreds of us. They don't deserve your pity."

Although Hiccup looked a bit hesitant, he finally gave in, not wanting to argue with the violent blonde. Of course he sort of felt a little anger for the Scottish. But it wasn't right to kill. "You're right. They don't," he said with a sigh.

Astrid smiled. "I bet your mom will have been proud to know what you've done." Hiccup strapped the belt to his waist, ready to take off. If only his mom was here, he'd know what to do, what to believe in and what to fight for. He'd always wanted a mom, but she was taken from him, and that was something he thought he should fight for. There was one thing he needed to do. Hiccup swore he will find the man who killed his mother. Any child would.

Toothless hurled himself atop a boulder, and leapt from the rock towards the ocean as she looked at their figures sailing like birds across the ocean.

* * *

He and Toothless kept flying through the dead of the night, trying to hover low along the ground so as not to be spotted in the clear night sky. The lithe dragon's talons were already pawing the ground. But something seemed…unusual as he plummeted deeper into the forest. As he moved, the air began to change, and that was when a blue wisp popped out of nowhere, making Toothless shriek and crash to the ground. Hiccup groaned, wiping the dirt off his soiled shirt. The wisp continued to dance, its bright blue threads twisting and layering atop of another.

"What…in Odin's name?" He said as he touched the wisp. It suddenly vanished and just a few distances away, another blue light caught his eyes. The swirls that looked to be their arms seemed to beckon them deeper. Toothless widened his eyes and began chasing the blue little light, trying to trap it with his front paws. He slipped occasionally each time the wisp made an abrupt turn.

"Wait, Toothless stop!" And he did. Toothless hit his head with the bark of a tree as the wisp he was chasing passed easily through it. He curled up, lulling his tongue in and out in bewilderment as he gazed at the tree. The wisp didn't leave them, though. It still appeared on the far side of the forest.

"I…I think they're leading us, Toothless," Hiccup realized as he began to walk towards it. Toothless sprang forward, blocking Hiccup with his wings. He wouldn't let his rider follow the creepy thing that just passed through a tree. "What has gotten into you, bud?" he asked as he pushed Toothless' head out of the way.

"They're just…." Hiccup trailed, glancing over the dark branches looping over the bushes, lashing out in eerie outlines. The earth coiled hard underneath, sending a cold atmosphere suspended in the damp forest. "…Weird, little blue lights that are leading us to a really creepy part of the forest where there could be beasts beyond our wildest dreams and even Scottish people that could easily kill us in one swipe."

Toothless nodded, trying to give him one final push away from the lights. "Just one second, bud. I didn't come all this way to back out. I need to find Barf and Belch." He was persistent all right, dodging Toothless' wings and slipping underneath him so he could pass. The wisps danced happily and disappeared one by one as he delved deeper and darker, with Toothless reluctantly following him.

He really, really, _really, _didn't want to go any further, but there was some kind of magic pulling him. It was surprising that when the wisps disappeared, he came across a heavily forested slope. The moon shone its rays through it, revealing depths far more vivid than a tapestry.

"Why would they lead me here?" Hiccup asked, searching for anything that could be the reason. Toothless purred, and his snout pointed to the far edge of the forest. There was something moving.

He immediately ducked and motioned Toothless to do the same. Carefully, his eyes peeked into the slope and the longer he stared, the more fascinated he became.

There was a girl, with bright red hair contrasting the dark, gloomy forest about her. When her face hit the ray of the moonlight, he was struck deeply by her beauty. Although he couldn't really see her in detail, she really was very beautiful. And she seemed to be following something, but he couldn't see much of her now that she was slowly walking her way out of the forest. He ducked once more and rested his back against the crested ground, dumbfounded. "Wow." Was all the word he could muster.

"Angus!" He heard her and peeked his eyes out again. But this time, his eyes widened in horror. She was running mad fast as if something was in pursuit of her, then it hit him when branches and trees split, and barks were chafed and clawed, revealing a dragon he didn't expect to find so soon.

"Oh great, the only time I find a girl and she gets eaten by one of our dragons." He muttered, and swung himself onto Toothless. "Toothless, go!" He yelled, and the dragon dove towards the Zippleback that was pinning the girl down. It opened its mouth to spew gas and fire…

"Barf! Belch!" He yelled, and immediately, the dragons shut their mouths, their bodies curling in surrender as if they were busted after disappearing for days. They sniffed Hiccup's palm, which was stained by blood. He craned his neck to see the girl watching him command the dragon. His mind suddenly echoed the voice of Astrid telling him something she told him not too long ago.

_Kill them if they see you. _Hiccup didn't know what to do. He brought a hand to his belt, his fingertips brushing his dagger.

If he were to kill her, what was the point of saving her from being killed? Why _did_ he save her? He didn't know. He couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to kill her. Although he wanted to do as he was told, his conscience was much stronger. He knew he didn't have the heart to actually kill someone, much less a lady. She reached out to grab his attention, but he already took off with Toothless, afraid he might actually harm her. He knew he had to fly away from doing something he might have regretted.

But then again, after letting a Scot run away seeing your clan's ultimate and supposed to be confidential weapon, he really did something he was going to regret.

* * *

The clippity clapping of horse hooves on the stone floor was all Merida could hear in the dead of the night. The image of the boy with honey hair was all she could remember as well. Angus slowed, first to a canter, and then to a trot towards his stable. She dismounted and headed straight to the kitchen of their castle, hoping her absence didn't alarm anyone.

She was about to climb the stairs when she saw her mother's silhouette against the open door.

"Merida!" She exclaimed, stepping out into the let and revealing her worried expression. She cupped her daughter's cheek and caressed her hair very daintily. "Oh, I was worried sick!"

"Ye were?"

"I didn't know where ye'd gone or when ye'd come back," she breathed worriedly. "I didn't know wha' to think. Oh look at yer dress."

Merida shifted herself out of her mother's grasp. "Angus threw me…" she trailed. "But I'm not hurt!" she finished so her mother wouldn't have to worry.

"Well you're home now," her mother sighed in relief. "That's the end of it. Now, why don't we go up to your room to talk about the marriage."

"Aah, Mum," she frowned, folding her arms across her chest.

"Oh, come now. It'll be fun," Elinor cooed, leading her up to the staircases. Merida plopped herself down the bed, tired and not the least bit interested in marriage. "Mother!" she complained. "Suitors?! Marriage?!"

"Once there were two ancient kingdoms in great war with each other." Elinor spoke, lifting the leaden clasps of a box and pulled out a chess set.

"Ugh, Mom." Merida whined, sliding down from the bed. "Ancient kingdoms."

"Ruled by two very different leaders who never seemed to think there would be peace between their lands. One of the leaders had a son, and the other had a daughter." She took a black king piece, and took a white queen piece, setting the both of them together in the middle of the board.

"No one knew that these two heirs of the great enemies had met in unknown patterns of fate, and these two fell deeply in love. But the time came when their secret had finally gotten out, and they were separated far from each other, while the leaders led their kingdoms off to a great war to finally end everything, but the rivalry between them had only resulted to blood, chaos, and ruin." She tipped the chess board, and everything crashed down, but the black king piece and the white queen still stood on the other end of the table.

"Though they failed to reach the leaders in time to stop the war, their love was much stronger than violence. But no one ever saw them again, or knew what happened after the great rift was torn in their kingdom."

"That's a nice stoory," Merida said sarcastically. "And the wee lovers died happily ever after."

"It's not just a story, Merida," Elinor said. "Legends are lessons. They ring with truth."

"And wha' does this lesson teach, eh?" She grumbled.

Elinor bent down to stroke Merida's hair. "That not everything is put right with violence. The two kingdoms never lived long enough to see the great wonders of fate after they had been blinded by their pride,"

"Then wha' does this story have tae do with the marriage?"

"Merida, ye need to understand that this was why marriages became traditional. The Legend of the Two Kingdoms became a lesson for our clan, and that Two Kingdoms must always unite for every generation, instead of separate."

"It's just a story, mum. It's not real." She frowned. "See, no one ever really knew what happened tae the prince and princess. The story is just…not complete."

"Actually," Elinor continued. "Some say that the Legend of the Two Kingdoms will repeat itself for people to know and remember the end of the story. To teach us one more lesson. And to give the two heirs who fought for each other one last chance to change their kingdom's fate."

* * *

A/N: Legends are to repeat itself. O.O What did meh wee lambs think of this chapter?

Anyways, thank you for the positive feedback...on the donuts! I didn't think my baking skills where _that_ good, but my ducklings here are so very kind. I will pursue this virtual baking business while rendering my readers Mericup service entertainment.

So here's a velvet cupcake with cream cheese filling and cherries on top decorated with rainbow sprinkles *hands out virtual cupcakes* I hope I have enough for the people reading this storyXD

For those of you who don't know, check out the song "Something Different by lily sevin" on youtube and tell me what you think of it. Its a fan made song about the big four and its the song that inspired me to write this 'stoory'.


	3. The Helmet

A True Hero is not measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart."

~Zeus, Hercules (1997)

* * *

~O~

The Helmet

~O~

* * *

"Ah don't care about the legend, Mum. It's not like it's going tae happen tae me. Ah don't even think the legend is truh!" She yelled, flinging her arms frantically.

"A princess does not raise her voice." Elinor casted her glare towards her disgruntled daughter yet she was poised with formality and aptness a queen always has. "Merida, all this work, all the time spent in preparing you, schooling you, giving you everything I never had, I ask you, what do you expect me tae do?"

"Call off the gathering!" Merida told her mom. "Will that kill them? Ye can just tell the lords I'm not ready for this, in fact I might not ever be ready for this!"

"I understand that this all seems so sudden," she said, pacing around the room. "Even I had reservations when I faced betrothal with yer father."

Merida scoffed, hearing her father below in the grand hall singing as he hurled axes and weapons towards a painting of Stoick the Vast in front of Harris, Hubert and Hamish.

"Stoick, Stoick, Stoick, I'll hunt you down and cut yer leg, then take yer head and hang them on a peg..." the triplets had grown so tired with his singing that the placed rocks in their ears just to make sure they wouldn't go deaf. "Stoick, Stoick, Stoick, ye insufferable pig tha' wears a wig for a beard…" Fergus crooned.

The princess rolled her eyes. "Ah can see why."

"We can't just run away from who we are, Merida." Elinor cupped Merida's cheeks.

She pulled away. "Just because 'am a princess, tha' doesn't mean that's who Ah am."

The Queen began to get cross. "A princess is someone who always does what's best for her kingdom. She places her sovereignty first and not her own desires."

"Maybe Ah don't want tae be a princess, Mum. I want my freedom." She banged her fist on her palm, almost pleading.

"But are you willing to pay the price yer freedom will cost? Are ye willing to put your people, innocent people, in danger?" Elinor huffed.

"I'm not doing any of this tae hurt you. Wha' can Ah possibly do to put ye all in peril?"

"If you can just understand that everything Ah do, Ah do out of love. Ah dinnae want this tae happen…" Elinor sighed, cupping her forehead. "But sometimes, our fate is not our own. And for people like us, there needs tae be sacrifice."

"Ridiculous." Merida mumbled to herself. "Nothing is ever going tae happen. Not if Ah have some say in it."

"I know what ye're goin' through, but…" Elinor began, but Merida cut her off.

"Ye don't know wha' it's like tae be me! Ye don't know wha' Ah'm goin' through. Yer the queen that always walks around telling me wha' to do, wha' not to do, telling me Ah don't care about my kingdom." She sauntered across her room, but all her efforts were proven futile when her mother only responded with an unyielding stare.

"Enough, Merida." She replied calmly. "We can go all night ranting about this but we are never getting further. This is wha' ye've been preparing for yer whole life. If ye don't accept, everything ye ever learned will be for naught."

"Why can't Ah be a queen with noo marriage?" Merida suggested bleakly.

"Ye can't fend for yerself alone, Merida. Ye don't know anything about the war and ye are not capable in offering contributions that could help us win. All ye do is shoot arrows and not care about yer subjects." She scolded. Merida glared at her mother in the worst way she can (she always seems to).

She began fixing her daughter's bed, propping her pillow and flipping the thin quilts over. "You better get some sleep, Merida. The suitors will be here by noon." Merida wanted to scream. She pulled the riot of her tangled hair and stomped her foot as her mother turned to walk outside.

"And take a bath, will ye? Yer starting to smell worse than Angus."

With one final scoff and glower, she took the rim of the door and slammed it along with all her anger welled up inside. She spilled everything on her desk, sending books, quills and a satchel all in torrent.

But when she did, a heavy thump tumbled along the floor, and the sound seemed so much heavier than anything she knew she ever owned. And when did she own a satchel? The firelight in the torch gleaming her shadow caught a metal cusp peeking through the brim of her duffel bag, something she always carried when she rode Angus.

She remembered it now. When the person she had seen took off with the black creature, something fell off him, something that she took instinctively. She picked it up, hoping someday to return it to the boy that saved her life. Merida didn't open it, for something told her she shouldn't.

The next moment was filled with terror and utter shock when she pulled the dainty object out from its sack. Her hands turned clammy and trembled at the touch of its hard surface. Dropping the object that looked horrifyingly familiar, she scrambled away from it as if it carried some fatal disease. The sound echoed through the stone floor when it fell, its rims spinning until finally stayed still, its horns pointing at her her in an ominous manner. She recognised it.

It was a Viking helmet.

* * *

The morning wasn't as torturous as she expected. She winced at the gown draped at the foot of her bed. It was another reminder that she had no control of her life. But Merida waited for her Mom to finally come into her room before she can tell her everything that happened last night. So her mother thought she isn't capable of contributing to the war. So her mother thought she can't fend for herself.

Just let her wait and tell her that she killed a Viking and took his helmet as prize. Or that she scared him away and he gave her his helmet in surrender. Or anything that seemed like a convincing story to whip up. She didn't want to lie in front of her mother's face but she was so desperate to live a free, independent life that it didn't matter whether it was wrong or right.

Hopefully at some notch, her mother would think she is adept of handling her kingdom on her own, without the help of any particular kind of male. She can lead armies and make Vikings tremble, and not be some princess wedded off and bear children of someone she doesn't know.

_Knock. Knock._ She heard her mother's soft knuckles tapping her wooden door.

"Yer up early." Elinor exclaimed in surprise when she came in. "Now, come. We have tae make ye look presentable in front of the lords.

"Wait, mum. There's something ye need tae know." Merida began pacing towards the underside of her bed, where she kept the satchel. "So ye think I'm not capable of fighting our enemies or ruling a kingdom on my own…"

"I trust we are not still ranting about this, are we, Merida? Ah believe Ah have said enough when Ah said 'enough.'" Elinor sighed, a little impatience evident in her voice.

"Ah know, mum, but Ah'm just saying maybe Ah can fend for myself if ye'll just look here and see…" Merida approached her bed, glancing at her mother occasionally with pleading eyes.

"Merida, I told you enough…" Elinor slowly began, as if her voice was about to bellow into a thunderous roar.

"No, mum. Really, ye have to trust me…"

"Merida…"

"Come on, mum, just listen…" her feet began to tug on the strap of the bag so she can pull it out to show her mom.

"Enough of this, Merida! I am the queen. You. Listen. To me." The Queen of Dunbroch was filled with startling rage and anger that it silenced Merida with shock and fear. "Ye can complain all ye want, Merida. But I have made my decision, and I expect you to act as befits your station. This marriage is happening no matter what. That is my final word on subject."

Slowly, Merida felt her foot gently push the satchel further under her bed. "I'm sorry, Mum." She felt her eagerness to tell her mother everything ebb away like a fog caught by a rigid breeze. The queen looked at her daughter with an apologetic smile, approaching her and kissing her forehead.

"I didn't mean to yell, Merida. Forgive me." She hugged her daughter tightly, running her hand over the riot of red curls. Merida forced her smile and hugged her mother. Behind the queen's back, she looked at the satchel laying still in the darkness, a secret everyone in her clan craves, answers to questions that remain unriddled to this day, hidden under her bed, and only she knows.

And that's how it's going to stay. Not until she finds out the reason why this Viking didn't kill her when he had all the chances in the world.

Booming echoes of different clans thundered through the lapping salt water as three ships carrying different flags crested through its waves. It frolicked on its flanks as dozens of men maneuvered in rapid strides. Meanwhile, Elinor was busy priming her daughter into someone that looked like a princess. The hardest part was having to brush her hair of course. Rumors say the queen had imported a dozen combs to compensate for each one that Merida's wild, rebellious hair destroyed.

A necklace dangled from her neck as she wore a beautiful (but awfully tight) sapphire colored dress. The corset around her waists was so fitted that the bodice hugged her curves. It had a lovely shape and the way the skirt swirled around her ankles, flaring out if she swayed or twisted side-to-side was quite breathtaking, for her Mom.

Merida fidgeted, trying her best to keep breathing, her hair was covered entirely to stay out of the way, and she wondered how on earth her Mother managed to do that. At the front of the dress, the U-neck dipped to show some of the white kirtle, which skimmed her shoulders and stifled her elbows taut.

"Its perfect," Elinor gasped in awe. Merida growled in response, seeing she might as well be handicapped. Elinor looked at her daughter, looking at her in admiration. She grew up to be a fine young lass, her face the spitting image of her mom. The queen remembered herself in that same day, where men from nations far and wide desired her to be their Queen. But it was only Fergus who triumphed.

_Fergus Dunbroch was actually not supposed to compete for Elinor's hand. There was only Lord Dingwall, Lord Macintosh and Lord MacGuffin fighting in the games. He came from an unknown land, and though he wasn't invited, the customary rule is any eligible first born of a great leader, chieftain, or king with an inheritance of land, may compete for the hand of the princess, and the last test was traditionally picked by the young maiden herself._

_Elinor picked Archery as well for the final test of men to prove their worth. _

_The second Lord Dingwall won the Archery test (of what many considered a lucky shot) a man with a hood appeared in front of the entire clan, carrying the flag of Dunbroch._

_Fergus pushed his own cloak back over one shoulder, revealing the belted tunic of where he placed his bows and arrows beneath. She caught sight of the long sword in the scabbard that hung beside it. _

"_I am Fergus, son of the Great Leader Dunbroch. And Ah will be shooting for Princess Elinor's hand!" __The Princess that day smiled, a grin that spread as wide as she can muster. For she knew him. And He knew her._

_Fergus placed an arrow on his bow, drawing it all the way to his cheek…released…and…._

"Mom?" Merida asked. Elinor shook her head, taking away past memories out of her head. She placed a palm gently on the back of her hand.

"Just…remember to smile, Merida. We should leave now, the lords shall be cross if ye dally."

The grand hall was filled with busy servants all rushing to their places before the lords reached them within the strike of noon. The castle was caked in flamboyant decorations. Elinor busily told everyone to act in proper decorum as she fixed a few straying hairs from Merida's face.

The halls opened with a bang, sending a few guards flying towards the other side of the room. The Lords marched their way to the manor, a part of their castle far more appealing than the austere barracks. The Scottish stonewalls of the great house featured friezes of the battle scenes of classic legends, dark wood carved intricately from the events of the Legend of the Two Kingdoms.

Fergus stood up, his dominative voice silencing the entire room. "Ah so here we are…uhhh…the four clans…uhh…gathering…for uhhh…" Elinor clapped a hand over her forehead in embarrassment. She stood beside her husband with extended arms.

"For the presentation of the suitors!"

"Aye for the...uh presentation of the suitors!" Fergus imitated.

Merida looked at the odd bunch of her suitors, and not one of them interested her much. Young Macintosh seemed to fare the favor of many young ladies. He was muscular and tough but his over confidence just contradicted hers. And he seemed to take things far too seriously.

Young MacGuffin seemed like a good young lad, but she couldn't understand a single word he utters. He spoke like a heavy toned chipmunk gibbering words only he could comprehend.

Wee Dingwall was probably the most…odd of the group. His long blonde hair stood on one end, and his nose was probably sharper than his own sword. Recently, he earned a nickname from the other young lords which was 'Abs'

The young lad initially smiled at the name for he thought they meant hard muscles on your torso. But really, 'Abs' was for Abnormal.

"In accordance with our laws, by the rights of our heritage, only the first born of a great leader, chieftain or king may be presented as champions to compete for the hand of the princess, and thus attain the title of Kingship in allied nations. To win the fair maiden, they must prove their worth by feats of strength and arms in the games."

Merida scoffed, hating the idea of being thought of as a prize. "There are three tests of which the sons of each of the great leaders must face…" Elinor began, in a much steadier tone of voice.

"There will be the test of Novelty. To prove that he is deserving of a maiden precious to the kingdom, the princess will be hidden in the deepest parts of the forest, and whichever suitor finds her first shall be declared winner of the first test."

"The second test shall be of Strength. The suitors will fight one of the many ghastly beasts that roam our lands. Whoever defeats the mighty beast shall be declared winner of the second test." Elinor said. "And the third test…" She cleared her throat, knowing this was the part of the test, which had always made everyone anxious.

"Shall be Conquest. It will be held a month after the second test for the suitors to prepare themselves. It is customary that the challenge be determined by the princess herself…" Elinor looked at Merida and motioned for her to say something. Merida smirked, wondering if these strong lads were swift enough to handle a delicate yet rousing skill she had mastered all her years.

"I choose Archery." She said. Her mother smiled in approval.

"The young lad who shall perform the very best will not only be entitled to Kingship of our land, but he shall have this fair maiden for his wife. For today, we shall have the Test of Novelty, followed by tomorrow's Test of Strength, then after a month, we shall have the final Test of Conquest," There was a pause, before the Queen extended her arms in mid-air and declared.

"Let the Games begin!"

Outside the castle, the thick outer walls enclosed a broad courtyard bustling with activity. Merida was ordered to pass by the stables and mount on Angus before reuniting with everyone else on the starting line. On the way, she tore off the headdress that covered her head and exhaled, finding that when her wild hair was free, so was she. She packed some cheese, two cakes and three apples in her bag in case she got hungry. But she heard the young lads were excellent in hunting, and would probably find her in no time.

Which she swore that would never happen.

Angus impatiently tossed his mane as Merida stirred him towards the courtyard. All the young suitors were on their feet, waiting for the Queen to give Merida the signal to gallop away to the deepest parts of the forest. The outer walls of the imposing, solitary stronghold shielded the inner buildings of the fortress from view, so the suitors couldn't see which direction she went.

"The Princess shall only have one hour tae run deeper into the woods, and by dusk, one of the suitors shall have tae return her home, or else, none at all." It basically meant that if no one found her by dusk, no one wins and she shall have to return home by herself.

The blast of the horn sent Angus leaping into the glen. The cacophony of raucous hoots from the crowd set the adrenaline of the day. She gave her horse a bet more rein and the dark stallion surged ahead, the canter giving away to a gallop. The villagers watched the silhouette of their princess slowly disappearing as they tore through the cluster of sodden thickets.

The Princess did not hesitate to ride deeper, farther, wider, just as long as it took her away from her problems. The forest was her escape from all her duties, responsibilities and expectations. She made sure she could never be found so that no one had to win her hand.

The clouds had broken through the night and sunlight filled the glen with an impish gleam of summer. Merida found the pace exhilarating; smiling as the sun warmed her back and the wind pulled strands of her hair to tickle her cheeks.

At that moment, everything seemed perfect. Merida thought she was alone at this part of the forest. No one could ever find her here.

But little did she know a certain boy himself was lost in the woods, looking for something that a certain princess had. Well, neither of them really expected to see each other again so soon.

* * *

A/N: Ah yes, we meet again Cliffhanger. Now my wee ducklings, Ah have a surprise! *pulls out freshly baked cookies from the oven* *distributes for Mericcup shippers*

For sunshine is delicious, the duckling who asked if it's possible to be virtually fat: Why yes, yes it is. So keep eating! i know you all can't resist it...Do not deny your virtual stomach.

And wow! 11 food critiques for the last chapterXD I read every review and you all just warm my heart. Love you ducklings so much! Be sure to leave a comment, be it about the complimentary dishes or the complimentary story. Don't forget we have a special next week! So stay tuned!


	4. The Helmet II

"A Chief must show no fear, no worry... A Chief is a leader first, and a man second..."

-Stoick the Vast, How to Steal A Dragon's Sword

* * *

~O~

The Helmet II

~O~

* * *

Hiccup looked down. The dark forest seemed like a huge, burly smudge beneath him, now that Toothless soared in a magnificent arc, reaching the level of the moon with a few mighty swoops of his wings pummeling through the moonlit trees. Behind him, Barf and Belch cagily followed, a little disgruntled of being barred a midnight snack.

They made a few attempts to twist and turn their two mischievous heads, but Toothless had always kept a watchful eye, and he'd shoot plasma bolts towards them (though he'd purposely miss a few inches) whenever they did.

Along the journey, the young scrawny boy said nothing. He curled into his saddle and let his trusty dragon maneuver them towards Berk. It was a long quiet night, and he really couldn't believe what just happened.

A little quest for a Zippleback and he gets more than he bargained for. But he only saved her life, because he knew he'd never see her again. Besides, the shock and terror that had happened could have possibly rendered her unconscious. Maybe she'll remember everything as a dream, Hiccup hoped.

It wasn't long before he realized they were floating on top of the oceans and up ahead, he saw the cliffs and tall, stalactite rocks spearing up from the waters like snouts of large, dark whales. Toothless folded his wings backward and dove to the ground, landing on all fours.

"Go home, you two." Hiccup ordered the Zipplebacks, who responded by scrambling to the sleeping huts of Ruffnut and Tuffnut. "Mind if you stay up a little longer, bud?" He asked, rubbing Toothless behind his ear. The dragon nodded.

"I'll take that as a yes." He reached at the back of Toothless to get his satchel. "Now I'll just grab my helmet and…" he stopped when his hands thrust into nothing but air.

"My...my helmet…" his hands searched around the saddle where he fastened the strap. "Oh, gods. Don't tell me we dropped it." He rubbed his forehead, angered by his carelessness. Toothless let out an apologetic purr.

"I must have let the strap loose when I got off you, the minute I saw…" he shook any unwanted musings out of his head. "Never mind. Don't worry, bud. We'll get it back."

They were probably the only ones awake, since all the candle lights have been blown off and Berk was just another dark splotch in the coast of the Archipelago, except for his house that sat elevated on a sloping hill. But Hiccup didn't want to go home yet, so he stopped to one of his most favorite places to visit: the Meathead Public Library.

The door creaked open, and as he peeked inside, the Hairy Scary Librarian was still up, stamping and piling books in their respective shelves. His craned his long, craggy neck and wrinkled his face when he saw the Viking boy peep from the rim of the door.

"Wha' are ye doin', here, ya filthy li'l boy? Ah won't be 'aven no good troublemakers in mah library," he snorted. "Neither am Ah takin' any no good dragons."

"I just have to ask if you have any books about…the um…Highlands?" He stuttered, seeing the librarian wasn't in the best of moods. Well, since when was he in the best of moods?

"Go check 'em yourself. Ah'm no slave, boy." Toothless growled at the librarian, sensing he wasn't really the friendly type.

"Well, that's extremely helpful." Hiccup rolled his eyes. He swaggered towards the towering shelves, glancing warily at the Hairy Scary Librarian who gnarled at him in response. "Honestly, am I the only sane person on this island?" He asked himself while brushing his fingertips over the titles.

"Hairy Hooligans, Hermit Hags…" he read along, and held his breath at the following book. "Highlands." Dropping low, he reached to pull the book from its grotto. The shelf groaned in frustration since nobody on the island really reads. They think books were an influence of civilization, which was probably a lie since the librarian certainly did not look civilized.

But the library was a fascination for the son of the chief. Massive tomes lay untouched throughout the tables and he wondered if anyone even bothered to peer through the volumes.

Hiccup sat down after taking a few candles to glow by him during his reading. The book that was the size of his own torso exhaled an abundance of dust as he turned the cover over. The first page was a riot of stains and brown smudges peppered in tattered edges.

"Highlands: Legends, Histories, Natives."

* * *

_The next moment was filled with terror and utter shock when she pulled the dainty object out from its sack. Dropping the object that looked horrifyingly familiar, she scrambled away from it as if it carried some fatal disease. The sound echoed through the stone floor when it fell, its rims spinning until it finally stayed still, facing her in an ominous manner. Her hands turned clammy and trembled at the touch of its hard surface._

_It was a Viking helmet. _

Merida, still taken aback, was breathing heavily. She clapped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming. Her heart twisted beneath her ribs and jolted at the image of the Viking boy flashing through her mind. But what did she know about them? Who were they and how did this war even begin? Why were they called barbarians when this 'Viking' she encountered didn't kill her, instead, he saved her.

Her mind was bombarded with so many questions that needed to be unriddled at once. She hoisted herself up, took the helmet with the satchel and barged out of the door, heading to the place she didn't really fancy, but the only place she knew that could possibly answer everything she never bothered to ask.

"G'd evening, Maudie!" The softhearted servant leaned against the wall as Merida passed by in a rapid pace.

"Wha' is she up tae, now?" Maudie snorted, bending down to pick up the deserts that she splattered on the floor. But to her surprise, three little red headed devils popped out of nowhere and stole the delicious cakes under her very nose.

Merida opened the door in one swipe, causing a few torches to flicker as an unwelcomed breeze of summer gales entered. Their Royal Library was a very beautiful one indeed. Scroll-laden shelves were strewn across the room like incessant pillars. She scrambled up to the ladder to explore the highest reaches, which contained the first letter of the word she was trying to find.

"Vikings…Vikings…Vikings…where are ye?" Merida groaned. Her fingertips brushed over the illuminated text of the book she was looking for in bold letters.

"'Vikings: Barbarians of the Archipelago,' Ah! Ye beauty!" Quickly, Merida battled to bend the sturdy little book out of its shelf. The book still lay inside its hollow, refusing to submit to the princess's grapple. With one final pull, the book launched itself towards Merida, who, in surprise, stumbled back and fell.

"Gah!" She screamed. "Oh, not again." The princess was now dangling upside down, with her foot latched on one of the ladder steps. She began swinging herself back and forth to get herself down, and from this, the ladder broke in halves and Merida fell flat on her back.

Grumbling, Merida rubbed the nape of her neck. "Well, the morning will certainly be a pain after this."

Beside her, the innocent little book lay opened to arouse more of Merida's curiosity. She picked it up and sluggishly hovered towards the corner then sat down on the floor with crossed legs, her back resting against the stonewall. With only the moonlight spearing through the intricate stained glass windows as her source of light, she flipped the cover over to begin reading.

* * *

"The Highlands are home to savages and brutes, each individual living in these areas are armed in seasoned hides, chaotic souls and inanity. Because of the abundance in their allies, their contentment never lasted on one single territory, and have a habit of attacking ancient Viking war ships and looting their lands," Hiccup read, "But they have much worse practices that happen every generation…"

"For every generation, young Vikings must learn to kill hundreds of large animals, raid even their neighboring tribes, and even abduct young Scottish people to become their slaves." Merida breathed, her pulse sprinting at the thought of becoming a slave. "Because of relentless Viking raids, the people of the Highlands forge an alliance to wipe out the entire race of savage, uncivilized Vikings."

Hiccup gulped, the handwritings were scribbled frenziedly. "Capable of hoisting a ton over their heads in a high arc, lifting logs of trees and hurling it towards another side of a field, traditional kills of predators and gruesome beasts…"

"Able to slaughter with their bare hands, women are encouraged, even required to fight in battles," The Princess quite liked the idea of being required to scuffle in warships. Surely, she can shoot down an entire armada if she can. They kept reading, flipping pages that suggested more of the opposing clan's unruly assets.

"If you ever engage a Scottish…"

"If you ever engage a Viking…"

Hiccup's hands trembled, hesitating to turn the next page. His fingers wrapped around his dagger, its shape familiar and reassuring that everything that happened was real. Merida swallowed, her recent encounters flashing in vivid memories.

"Kill them on sight."

"Kill them on sight."

"For they will always…_always…go_ for the kill." They read simultaneously.

Merida, upon finishing reading, laid her head against the wall in exhaustion. "So why didn't ye?" She looked at the helmet once again, before shoving it back into the satchel and retreating to her room with questions far more complicated than ever.

After reading the last line, Hiccup closed the book with a thwack. His fingers were tapping the book as he laid his chin on his palm, bafflement written all over his face. "I…I can't."

_Step. TAP. Step. TAP. Step. TAP. _Hiccup looked behind, his vision following the source of the sound.

"Can't wha', Hiccup?" Gobber asked, stopping mid-stride to look at him.

He immediately stood up, tucking the book in his chest. "Oh, you know, can't actually believe how I managed to kill some Scots on my way here…"

"Hmm, 'Ew many?"

"Just enough. I don't like to brag…" He shrugged his shoulders and flexed his muscles (?). Gobber couldn't read the boy's mixed expressions, try as he might to draw some hint from Hiccup's green eyes. Hiccup kept stuttering in his words and that's when his mentor suspected something was going on.

He inched closer, so close that Hiccup had to lean back. "I know wha' this is about."

He gulped, "Er…you do?"

"Is this about the breakup with Astrid?"

"Oh." Hiccup said, a little relieved he didn't know what was really going on, yet mortified that people like Gobber knew about the issue with Astrid. "Right, I mean…yeah, but I'm not so…down about it," he cast a sidelong glance at his mentor.

"Now, yer thinking about this all wrong. Its okay tae be upset."

"Uh..upset? Me? Pffft…"

"Look, it's one of these times that when ye lose something, yer bound to get something better! Look a' me hand…" Gobber raised his left hand, replaced by various metal prostheses by his own craft and design. "Those no good fingers I finally go' rid of when those dragons ate 'em. Now, Ah have a hammer hand!"

"Well, I prefer having _hands_ if you don't mind." He said, rubbing his fingers together protectively.

"Yer probably just tired. Ye better get some sleep, Hic. Ye know wha' happens tomorrow, right?"

"Yes. I'm going to the Highlands and I'll be gone for a month. It's all been arranged." He grunted, knowing he'll be sequestered in a huge forest for sundry days, surviving with only Toothless and himself.

Gobber raised an eyebrow. "Ye packed yer skirts?"

"Skirts?"

"Yer father wants ye to blend in while ye spy." He grabbed a few of his handmade kirtles and waved them for Hiccup to see. He groaned, and put up his hand to keep the skirts at bay.

"I am NOT wearing that!"

Gobber jeered, "Yes, ye are."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"NO. NO. NO. There is absolutely _no way_ I am wearing a skirt."

* * *

"I can't believe I'm wearing a skirt." Hiccup lifted the ends of the green kilt he was forced to wear the next day. Disgusted and ashamed of himself, he covered his face every time someone passed. It was almost noon and everyone on Berk gathered to see maybe the last of him. No doubt, some of the elders had taken extra time clearing the road to gawk at the heir of Stoick the Vast preparing to venture into the unknown while wearing a ridiculous outfit.

All his friends were staring at him.

"Ugh, Hiccup. You look like a girl. " Astrid taunted, glancing at a mortified Hiccup from head to toe. "But it's a nice look for you."

"Wait, _men _actually _wear_ that kind of thing in Scotland?" Snotlout asked, gesturing at his cousin's clothing. "Boy, am I glad I'm a Viking."

"I sort of like it." Ruffnut leaned closer to Hiccup. "It's kinda cute." Astrid pulled the horns on her helmet, causing her to stagger back.

"Sorry. Off limits." She said.

"What? Why? You guys aren't dating anymore, right?" Astrid rolled her eyes in response.

Snotlout glared at the two. "You guys are really fighting over _him, _than me?"

"Thank you for the kind words." Hiccup stiffened, trying to stay out of sight as possible. His father approached him from behind.

"Alright, son. Do ye have everything ye need?" Stoick asked. Hiccup glanced at Toothless who was carrying a large hamper.

"Yes. Yes, I do."

His father nodded, satisfied at how well he thought his plan was turning out. "Alright, we'll be expecting yer return after a month. And by that time, ye'll tell us everything ye learned about them."

With a frustrated grunt, he said, "I will."

"Brighten up, son. This is far more thrilling than fighting the largest dragon!" He beamed.

Tuffnut wrinkled his forehead. "We even defeated that Sundra…seafra…."

"Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus?" Fishlegs told Tuffnut.

"Seafra-exactly," Tuffnut grinned.

"Great, as soon as Hiccup's gone, I won't have anybody to pick on," Snotlout paused. "Hey, that rhymes."

"Sweet baby thunder of Thor…" Astrid clapped a hand over her forehead. "I can't believe I have to deal with all of you alone. Being vice-president of the dragon academy wasn't such a nice touch after all."

"Everything will go back to normal once I get back." Hiccup reassured her.

"_If_…you get back." Ruffnut corrected.

"Shut up, or I swear to Odin I will slice your head." Astrid's insides began to churn and boil as well. Ruffnut laughed that this was having an impact on Astrid.

"Still concerned over Hiccup? Like I said, you guys are no longer together."

"That doesn't mean I don't care about him."

Tuffnut groaned. "Blaegh. Give me a second to leave," he rasped. "I can't stand girls and their mushiness," Ruffnut rolled her eyes, and smiled haughtily at Astrid.

"I seriously don't see why Hiccup should be the man, I'm sorry, boy, for this job. I was born to do this." Snotlout snarled, pumping his chest with his fists to show his strength.

"Maybe if you were born with a brain, it would be an entirely different story." Astrid scoffed. The whole group was silenced when someone rose on a very high point on their village, making him the center of attention.

"Alright, everyone! The son of our Chief is preparing tae leave!" Gobber yelled, hauling the notice of everyone in the island. Hiccup took the signal and ran towards Toothless while trying to pull down his skirt to make it longer.

Toothless looked curiously at his rider. "I know what it looks like, now will you please stop it?" He saddled himself and got ready to take off. The Night fury spread his folded wings as Hiccup let the prosthetic tail out.

"Hiccup, wait!" Hiccup looked behind him to see Astrid. It was kind of hard to ever look at her again, especially after everything that's happened. "I know what happened last week was hard for both of us. But I really think it was for the best. I just wanted to say I'm sorry if I had ever hurt you."

He managed a weak reply, despite his closing throat. "I…I'm sorry too. I guess we're better off like this," he said, refusing to meet her eyes.

"Hey, Hiccup?"

"Yes?"

"Be safe." Fear began to creep like frost on his skin, wondering what will happen once he leaves the island. The crowd waved about in the village, shouting hoots, goodbyes and even condolences as they watch Toothless leap from the cliff and dive towards the ocean. The waters ripped in halves as he plummeted through the rocks. With waters fathoms and fathoms wide, they cruised for quite a while until the sight of trees peeked out in green, jagged, outlines.

They plunged into the forest as silent as feathers flying through serene gusts. "We have to go deeper, Toothless. I have to find my helmet." He carefully made his way between the jutting rocks until he reached a place where the falls settled into a narrow stream that wound its way toward the glen's floor.

"I don't remember this place." Hiccup dismounted Toothless, letting his dragon drink the crisp waters lapping softly along the banks. He looked up from the sound of rushing noise and saw the cliff from where the waterfalls perched. Mists drifted as it poured, racing down like hundreds of frosty horses on silver tethers.

"We're probably at the lowest point of this island, Toothless. It's best if you stay here while I go upriver." Toothless made a sound of objection.

"It's okay, bud." He patted his dragon's snout. "I'm trying to blend in, and a huge black dragon walking beside me isn't going to help. I'll be back for you, I promise."

And there, Toothless slumped onto the barracks quietly; his enormous eyes following the figure of his rider slowly disappear into the darkness. Hiccup no longer heard the gentle rise of the waterfall as he delved deeper and higher, trying to find his helmet.

Of course, if you were a fanciful person, you would expect a wild, redheaded princess riding through the forest on a beautiful dark stallion. But Hiccup wasn't that much of a fanciful person.

So he didn't.

He kept barreling through the woods as if he were the only person on the isle. He thought about a lot of things; if he was going to survive here, how everyone was doing, how _Astrid_ was doing. As much as he hated to admit it, he had been quite miserable since the break up. For a Viking his age, he was already dealing with very complex emotions. Hiccup knew he could never find someone as good as Astrid.

But little did he know he was about to find someone better.

* * *

A/N: ASDFGHJKL Have you guys seen the teaser trailer for How To Train Your Dragon 2?! It was UHMAZING. Hiccup looked so different, but he's gotten hotter. SO its okay *fangirls*

Thank you, for all 17 reviews my ducklings. Your reviews are among the kindest I have ever received in my months of fan fiction writing.

If you were a little confused, Hiccup and Merida were reading at, sort of, the same time, but they're not in the same room. Just wanted you to see how serious the different perspectives of Vikings and Scottish are against each other.

So...going back to the latter, the official meet and greet of Merida and Hiccup happens next week (probably) so review and tell me what you want to happen so I can make a few tweaks and get ideas from all you beautiful people! You all look the same to me, anyway.


	5. Forbidden Friendship Part I

"Oh, for Thor's sake..." said Hiccup. "I thought that was just a story..."  
"Stories come from somewhere," said the witch. "The past haunts the present in more ways than we realise."

~How to Break A Dragon's Heart

* * *

~O~

Forbidden Friendship Part I

~O~

* * *

Merida rode through the barracks, the wind wrestling her hair as Angus galloped towards huge stalwarts spearing up from the ground. She looked harder the moment she noticed it. Weren't those the same rocks she encountered last night? She held up the reins, causing the dark, gray steed to reel back.

The rustling ether was different. Besides, it was daytime. The birds were out of their nests singing away, the rabbits scuttled in the bushes and absolutely nothing suspicious seemed to crawl in skeptical movement. She didn't know any other way to ride deeper. Merida gave a jolt to the reins. So off they went.

A little deeper than what people might have gone through, "This seems far enough." Merida said as she skidded Angus to a stop. The suitors would have started looking for her around this time. The rules allowed her to only remain in the Far East, somewhere in Gairn Loch. She dismounted and decided to walk on from there to stretch her legs.

Tucked in foothills and blanketed by trees, it was hard to see almost anything. As she walked beneath the forested canopy, she drew a sharp breath. The air around her was so still she realized she entered a field of unnatural silence. Angus seemed to sense this as he whinnied his anxiety with a toss of his mane. Gripping his rein a bit more tightly, she made his whines die down, and listened.

Something terrible seemed to _wander _here. Otherwise, nothing would have been so still. Merida could feel the weight of the low, swollen clouds burdening her back. She began to reach for her quiver. The sound of her drawing an arrow to her bow was so blasphemously loud it made her jump.

She decided to quell her anxiety by shooting at particularly anything. She spotted an apple, about as tiny as your thumb when you look at it from her distance. Carefully, she drew her arrow all the way to her cheek…

* * *

Hiccup fought the urge to look down. He was already up very high on a tall cliff hundreds of feet above a magnificent sweep of a gorge, where Toothless lay sleeping. He was only kept from falling by the grasp of his elbow on the vines that slithered around the sheer piece of black shining rocks.

The ground underneath his left foot [1] crumbled when he stepped on it. There was a scrabbling of rocks ousting from the cliff as Hiccup perilously clung on the shrubs around him. Luckily, he grabbed them just in time to hoist himself up and onto the forest floor. Doing things without Toothless sure seemed difficult. He wiped his vest and looked at where he had gotten himself.

He could've sworn this was where he got off his dragon in the first place. He was desperate because that helmet was one of the only things he had left of his mother.

"Great Thor, will you please find me that breast helmet?" He asked. But the Great God Thor might have been temporarily deaf for the moment because it's been quite a while since he first set foot on the forest. He never really wore it while flying Toothless since it has gotten the habit of always slipping off his small dome.

Besides, he had bigger problems. He had this grave task of spying on the Highlanders. He kept thinking all day how he was to do such a thing, because to be able to know about the people around you, you'd have to personally know one of them. You'd have to get one of them to teach you their ways, to share with you their secrets, to earn their trust.

But how? He wasn't really good with making friends with humans in Berk. He was better off with dragons. How much harder would it be to make friends with enemies?

He smacked a branch with a wallop of his palm, only to find it slapping him right back in his nose.

He winced as he cupped his face. But upon looking at the tree where the said branch slapped him, he noticed four talon marks that scraped its bark. He placed a palm over it, feeling the deep cut in coarse lines. The mark was new. It couldn't have been for more than days. He took out his dagger, the Endeavour, and chipped the mark off to get a better look. Hiccup looked closely at the chip mark, just when his point of vision alit on the small area.

The dagger slipped from his grasp, clattering on the ground. The familiar sway of grasses, the positions of the falling trees, the foothills and rocks milling about in the open spot seemed like a replica of something that he doubted had happened.

Eyes widening, he withdrew from the tree in long treads, his mind slowly setting the scenery he had in mind.

He was back from last night. He could remember it now. Hiccup was actually standing on the crested ground, where he first saw an actual Scott. The immense amount of trees scattered made it difficult for him to realize, but thankfully, the large fallen trees destroyed by Barf and Belch placed obvious markings.

Quickly, he ran to the spot where he landed off Toothless, trusting his memory into retracing his tracks. But a flicker in his vision caused him to stop. Something draped in blue and white was veiled in strews of leaves and branches. Squinting his eyes, he carefully shoved the branches away to get a better view.

It seemed like a ghost returning to haunt you in the past (in this case, the past was merely yesterday). It was hard to believe it was her again. In fact, he even had to rub his eyes and blink to make sure she was really there. She was a little far from him, but he could still see the contours of her face. The red haired girl drew an arrow all the way to her cheek as she aimed at something not visible to Hiccup.

Trying to stay as low as possible, he drew his pocketbook out of his vest and began scribbling down. He drew the mass of her wild, curly strands, down to her waist and arms gripping the bow. It seemed as though she was waiting for him to finish drawing, because her fingers still gripped the end of the arrow by the time he ended.

"Why don't you just…shoot?" He asked as if she could hear him. The minute he spoke the words, she released the arrow. He gasped in astonishment as he watched it hiss right past him and hit a small object, causing it to topple on the ground. She grinned in satisfaction as the apple rolled down the hill with an arrow poking out of it.

Hiccup glanced at his notebook to make a few more outlines when suddenly, the charcoal slipped out of his grasp and tumbled loud enough for the archer to be quickly alarmed.

_Plop. Plop. Plop. Thud. _

Hiccup ducked low and cursed himself for not being undetectable. Little did he know Merida could see his head just peeking out of the ground.

Immediately, she held up her bow in a swift motion and prepared to shoot whomever this 'spy' was, but the kirtle she was wearing forced her to suppress her actions.

"Curse. This. Dress!" She muttered to herself. She bended over, and stretched her arms as far she could, splitting her corset in halves. Now that her hands were finally unrestrained, she released the arrow and purposely missed the stranger by a few inches. He ducked lower. Merida could almost hear his breath ragging from panic.

She released another arrow and let it whistle over his head, just to let him take the hint she knew where his location was and to quit hiding.

It was quiet for a moment.

"Ah know yer in there, so quit yer hiding!"

Hiccup held his breath as he peered to find the owner of the voice. "Okay, okay! I'm coming out," he said as he raised one hand. "Just, please don't shoot!"

Slowly, he rose to his feet while holding up his hands. As the arrowhead still pointed to his nose, he looked up to see an approaching angry Scott; wild strands of red curls fell down to her waist and deep, icy blue eyes stricken in both surprise and confusion were fixed on Hiccup's scrawny figure. She had a small, red nose and constantly flushed cheeks.

She seemed so helpless when he first saw her, and she looked as frightened as he was when the Zipplebacks pinned her on the ground, ready to incinerate her head off, just like what Toothless almost did to him. Maybe that was why he couldn't kill her. Maybe he did see a part of him in her. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

But apparently, she seemed to have…ungratefulness issues, seeing she wasn't afraid to finish him off with her weapon. Her long strides took her near Hiccup as he stared at the arrow pointing at his nose.

_O Bending Biceps and Quivering Quadrupeds and Twitching Toenails and Little Hairy Curly Bits of Thunderous Thor! _ His first day on the job, and it might already be his last.

But it might have been a blessing in disguise. What were the chances that he asked for Odin's help in aiding him with gaining the trust of the Scott and as it turns out, she happened to appear out of nowhere! Odin must have set this up himself. All he needed to do was gain her trust…eventually.

"Don't shoot." He managed to repeat, despite of his quaking voice. The arrow was still pointing at him and he knew he could be killed any second now. Merida's eyes widen when she looked a bit closer at the contours of this boy she was facing.

"Ah don't know who…but ah know what ye are…" she spoke in a low growl.

"I'd be glad to tell…really, I would," Hiccup finished. "So, can't we be a little civil in the introduction?" How on earth was he supposed to gain her trust? He's precisely three inches away from death.

Merida wasn't planning on putting her bow down. "Who are ye and how did ye find me?" Hiccup swallowed. "Ah said who are ye, and how did ye find me?"

"Let's not get excited," he murmured but the teasing lilt of his voice vanished. "I wasn't trying to find you."

She was beginning to get frustrated with him. "Ye were here last night and yer here again. Don't patronize me with yer Viking trickeries." She walked faster, making Hiccup walk backwards a whole lot faster as well to keep the arrowhead away from his nose.

"Trust me, you don't want me backed up against a wall…" he said, talking along the way. "I'm like this really wild animal when cornered…."

Merida wasn't convinced (there was a very clear reason why she wasn't of Hiccup's warning). She glanced at him from head to toe. He wasn't the kind of Viking depicted in the books. Knobby knees, thinnish runner bean of a boy with bright auburn hair and green eyes, although tall but quite lanky. He was very ordinary looking and had a face that was easy to overlook in the crowd.

"If you'll just put the weapon down…" he breathed, "It'll make me feel better."

Merida frowned, distrustful air feeding her senses.

"Ye were spyin' on me, weren't ye!"

"I...I wasn't!" He immediately countered. "I was looking for something, crashed here, end of story."

"I dewt ye speak the truth,"

"Just hear me out, please!" He was starting to regret saving her, because he didn't want to beg for his life. That was the last thing the future chief of Berk wanted.

"Ye came here for something," Merida took a few steps closer, so close, Hiccup's back was already against a rock so he stepped on a few stones near him to climb higher. "And Ah'm going to find out one way or another. So ye better do what ah say before ah start decidin' whether ah should let ye live or shoot yer mouth."

"If we're taking a vote, I'm with the first option," he quickly muttered.

Merida could tell this boy was getting on her nerves. She wasn't getting anywhere while she was threatening this smart-mouthed Viking.

Then, quickly, she sensed something moved.

She stopped when a shadow loomed over the forest. Keeping her bow up high, she aimed upwards; ready to shoot anything that was a sign of festering threat. All of a sudden, an eerie, high-pitched scream bellowed in a swaggering distance just before the tree standing beside her was hit by a purplish gleam of bolt and soon erupted into flames. It made Merida jump, making her throw her weapons as she catapulted to the other side of the moor.

The bow slid towards the lithe figure, and it didn't think twice about scorching the weapon with one blaze.

"Mah bow!" Merida widened her eyes in horror upon seeing her weapon rotting slowly in red glints. The flames drained the curves of the bow and rapidly ate the strings.

Toothless was about to pounce on Merida after finishing off the weapon when Hiccup blocked the dragon with a wave of his hands to catch his attention. "Woah, easy bud." Toothless growled and hissed at Merida. Hiccup leaned to whisper to his dragon. "We need her to trust us."

"Wha' is tha'!" Merida had completely forgotten about the creatures of last night. It was absurd she remembered an innocent harmless Viking while she had forgotten about really cool fire breathing creatures.

It was maybe because she had mistaken it for a land dwelling type of kelpie. A kelpie was a large, reptilian water horse that haunts the loch and other dark waters of Scotland. Its head was quite similar to that of dragons, especially to the Hideous Zippleback. Only longer, and it merely had one head. Still, it was bad omen for her to talk, or even think about the kelpies that could have killed her. the Scott's have always thought the presence of kelpies meant something bad was going to happen.

So imagine her shock when it's mouth was steaming due to the fact it released a ball of purple fire.

Merida's face was wracked in fear. She was down on her back, facing the odd, dark creature spreading his wings protectively over Hiccup. It was about to bellow at her when another figure leapt out from a foothill and barged into the scenery. The stallion stood on its hind legs and pumped its front hoofs into the air to show its dominance.

When it comes to protecting a human, horses were very loyal and unafraid, and even possessive. Angus whinnied and kicked his legs back and forth to repel the dragon. Toothless shot a mouthful of his fire towards the horse, missing him by the head but still managed to scorch a handful of hair on its mane. Angus teetered back and gave one more frightful neigh.

"Easy, Toothless! It's just trying to protect her." Hiccup told him, making Toothless fold his wings like a cloak over his back and sit upright like a good dog. The momentary feud between the two animals died down.

"Toothless…acquaintance." He gestured to Merida, "Acquaintance...Toothless."

Hiccup rubbed the nape of his neck. "I…I didn't get your name."

He didn't bother to. Merida quickly rose to her feet, mounted on Angus, and rode away.

"And… there goes our cover." Toothless snorted, and began walking the opposite direction.

"Toothless, you come here this instant!" He yelled at the stubborn dragon, which only flicked one side of his wing and began waving it up and down, almost as if to say, _Talk to the wing._

"You come here right now, or NO HADDOCK." Toothless stopped, savouring an image of freshly caught fish swimming around his head in circles. He licked his mouth, and flew towards his rider.

Meanwhile, Merida set off Angus with a dead run, but soon lathered with the pace. She looked over her shoulder, watching the spot where the Viking and his odd creature was shrink with distance. Looking away with a twinge of fear, she urged her horse forward, when suddenly she felt scales and claws grasp her forearm, and in a matter of seconds, Merida was lifted from Angus. The horse, upon feeling the weight of his rider diminish, looked up to see her being carried away from a distance.

"Oh, sweet old gammy collywobbles and cakes and swatched oranges…" Merida looked down at her feet dangling above the forest and almost scraping the tips of pines as the dragon zigzagged like a drunken pelican to keep her from taking any of the weapons at her side. She too, had a dagger, but was far too sick just by Toothless' relentless spinning torture.

"Ye get me down from 'ere, Viking!"

"You have to give me a chance to explain!"

"Get me down!" She yanked herself on Toothless, causing the dragon to tilt a little on the side. He hissed at the persistent human in response and stirred himself towards the gorge he was sleeping in not for hours ago. If you were a careful person, you would have taken extra caution when flying through this part of the forest for it was peppered with ragged crags and scarps of rocks underneath the cluster of dark rocks.

She looked dizzily, and beheld a wide expanse of the ocean and some horridly black and beetling cliff. Because of Merida's perpetual resistance against Toothless' grip, they stirred totteringly over the forest tips and crashed against boulder. Startled with the sudden lurch, the dragon dropped Merida on the edge of a cliff.

Her hands clung onto the craggy, rigid lines that were soiled in year's age. Her feet lay suspended above the misty and dark waters below her. There had also been hundreds of rocks in the vicinity of the bottom of the cliff. Within a few fathoms, she could see the waves as it lashed along its brinks and polished the sharp ends. Merida struggled to heave herself up, but her hand slipped each time they attempted to. As she grappled with herself, Hiccup and Toothless flew easily about her.

"Oh, gods," he sighed. "Can't that girl not give me a headache for five minutes?" He reeled his dragon to hover towards her. "Hop on!"

"Ah don't want yer help!"

"You did once and it kind of saved your life." He told her with an apologetic sneer. "Grab my hand!"

"Ah told ye to get away! Ah'm not going tae touch ye!"

"Do you have a death wish?" His vision pointed below the rocks as if they were lions looming to scuff their meal. "Just grab the hand! I'll catch you, trust me!"

Him saving her once did not make him any less than a Viking. He could still kidnap her, make her his hostage, and cause chaos within their kingdom and it would all fall apart just because she trusted him. But what made her extend her arm towards the enemy both hesitantly and willfully at the same time? Maybe she had no choice. Or maybe, she chose to do so.

Hiccup was a bit surprised she actually reached out towards him.

Merida's left hand, which kept her latched on the cliff, slipped just when her other hand almost had Hiccup's within a few inches. Her back pitched backward as she fell, a scream escaping from her mouth. As she felt the appalling sweep of descent, she instinctively closed her eyes and didn't dare look upward into the sky. But for a few seconds, she wondered why she hadn't already met the painful sensation on her back, or the ripples of the water crashing around her, The sense of falling had ceased, and that was when she realized the creature gave one final heave with his wings and grabbed her waist with his front paws.

At the same moment, the roaring noise of the waters hurtling at the banks of the rocks was completely drowned out with a shrill shriek from Toothless in an effort to yank himself up. He flattened out his wings before they crashed and the water hissed with the sudden buoy of Toothless' wings. They were so close over the waters that Merida's feet scraped the romping waves.

The sunset clambered down the horizon in lusters of bright cascading waterfalls, drawing light after it like how nets lure fish in dark waters. The sky was streamed in golden glory along the recesses of the clouds. Mountains and coppered archways stood back on silhouettes, and there were no foams along the bed of the ocean but rather faint lines pushed by a twilight breeze. Hiccup looked down to see Merida clinging on Toothless' paws.

Flying low, she was able to dip her finger into the ocean. The feeling of her hand carving the waves in traceless lines as it pooled in her palm and slipped through the ends of her fingertips was breathtaking. She had always dreamed of flying. Somewhere her mother doesn't know, where there were no lessons, no expectations, just her being free. Toothless gently swooped his wings across the east, gliding all the way to the forest floor. To their surprise, Angus was still there, waiting for Thor knows how long.

His nails loosened their grasp on her waist as he set her on the forest floor; a little annoyed she survived the fall. Angus galloped towards Merida, but teetered back when he saw Toothless. His overprotective instincts left him now that he sensed nothing between his rider and the dragon, so now he was no more than a cowardly horse facing a giant beast. He hid between the pinecones and dug his face in the bushes while his entire body was clearly visible.

"Get out there, ye wee sappy spit." Merida shook Angus's mane. She pulled his head and muzzled the bridge of Angus' nose to calm him down. "It's okay, Angus." She cooed. "We can go home now." She looked up in the sky and realized the horizon drowned the sun with a bright flare of orange and yellow.

Toothless was now looking for that haddock Hiccup had promised him. He nudged his owner's chin and whimpered. Instead of feeling his hand scratching the underside of his snout, Toothless felt Hiccupless as his owner bluntly walked right past him to approach Merida. If Toothless hadn't been an ebony colored dragon, he would've turned pink in anger…and extreme jealousy.

"You have to listen to me," Hiccup approached her. "Nobody can know I'm a Viking."

"Why? Is there something yer tryin' tae hide?"

"That I'm a Viking? Yes," he said. "And how on Berk did you recognize I _am_ one? I wasn't even wearing-"

"Yer helmet?" Merida finished. "I figured someone careless wouldn't have thought tae check if their satchel was with them before they took off."

His mind was split. One relieved someone found his helmet. One not relieved that it was _a Scott_ who had found his helmet. "_You_ have my helmet?"

"Aye," she answered.

Hiccup wiped the sweat running on the bead line of his hair. "Look, I need that helmet. You have to give it back to me."

"Are ye threatening me? Ye goin' tae use yer kelpies an'…" she looked around. "Where is the other one?"

"The other what?"

"The green two-headed kelpie!"

"Kelpie? Is that…is that what you call dragons?"

Merida's brows knitted. "Dragons? Those are…dragons?"

"Well, what else could he be? A flaming squirrel?" She glanced at the not-really-kelpie-creature.

"Ah though' they were just some myth."

Toothless snarled in response. Hiccup laid a hand on his snout. "He's sorry to disappoint."

She gave a wary glance at the dragon, who was staring eerily at her none stop with bright yellow eyes and dark murky pupils. Trying to avoid it, she looked at Hiccup instead. "So, wha' do ye do with those…dragons?"

"I…uh…I… " He scratched his head, wondering if she would believe him. "I train them."

Train? Beasts? Viking?

Now that was something no Scott has ever done in the games before. And just like that, mischievous little Merida had the gears in her brain working and propelling as soon as an idea came to her head when she saw a possible negotiation with this Viking. What if _she_ was the one to win the challenges? She was a first born after all of a king. Maybe she could escape marriage by winning her own hand. And who could win the last test of archery other than her? It was amazing how they all seemed to connect with each other.

She _can_ change her fate. She didn't have to go through marriage. All she had to do was get this boy to help her.

She'll need a Viking's help when it comes to slaughtering beasts, which was required of the second test. Of all the murderous tribes in the world, they were the best at conquering savages and the most formidable of creatures. And hasn't he also tamed a large two-headed kelpie? She needed his experience and was bent on doing so.

The other end of her mouth curved upward, like a cunning smirk. He seemed to be frantic about his helmet, making her plan a lot easier than she thought. Hiccup narrowed his eyes when he noticed the suspicious gleam in her eye. Something told him he wasn't going to like this.

"This is a little disturbing for me to see you smile like that," he said as he rubbed his temples.

"Look, mister," She pointed an accusing finger at his chest. "Ye have to do something for me before I give ye yer precious helmet."

"And that would be?"

"There's a tournament _I _must win," she inched closer. "And ye have tae help me."

"What's it for, anyway?"

"That's not important. What matters is that _I _win," she told him. "Ye will help me with this, and then, and only then will I return tae ye yer precious helmet."

"Was saving your life not good enough?" He said. "You can just give me my helmet, I get out of your way, never see each other again and part ways just like unlikely friends."

"Ah'm a Scott," she retorted. "We don't work tha' way. And besides, the only way no one's ever going tae know you're a Viking, is if _Ah _don't tell anyone."

Hiccup looked unconvinced. But the princess was persistent. "Look at i' this way. If ye help me do this, Ah win the tournament, ye get your helmet, no one will know yer a Viking, and ye don't have tae go back to tha' island of yers because Ah'll let ye stay here. It's a win-win deal."

"How long will this take?"

"To the point where Ah say so."

"Well, that's comforting," he sighed.

"So," Merida spoke once again, "Do we have terms?" He flinched. It was quite a tall order for a small Viking.

With a forced submission, Hiccup said, "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

* * *

A/N: [1] Yes, Hiccup still has his left foot in this story. I'm planning on another way for him to lose his foot (that sounded wrong).

**_Is there going to be a sequel? –Jack Pche. _**

Hah! Hold your horses, buddy. I'm not even done with chapter 6. Stick around till the end and you get your answer:D

I'm really sorry for the late updates! Would you believe me if I told you I stapled my thumb? No, because how can anyone that stupid exist? Apparently I do. Let's just say I am never touching staplers again because I couldn't write/type for days.

Watch out everyone. The real story starts in the next chapter because I am abandoning the plot of Brave so it's gonna be full of twists and it'll build up into an original story. Stay tuned!

Ok, so, I'm literally broke. Please accept this humble sandwich. Any guesses on which possible villain could be in this story? Winner gets a virtual mojo! Thank you again for all your beautiful reviews!


	6. What Were The Odds Of That?

_Life is a gamble, at terrible odds - if it was a bet you wouldn't take it. - Tom Stoppard_

* * *

~O~

What Were The Odds Of That?

~O~

* * *

"Teach me how tae handle those beasts," she said simply.

He shook his head. "Wait, wait, wait. _You_ are asking _me_ to teach _you?_"

"Dae ah look like ah was talkin' tae yer dragon?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. He remained wary of his assertion that they could work towards a settled agreement. "You can't be serious about this. It isn't easy to handle dragons. They're very unpredictable, violent, and dangerous."

Merida raised an eyebrow. "Ah think they sound like fun." At this point, Hiccup couldn't tell if this girl was either very brave, or very stupid. Or maybe just a jarring mix of both.

"Look…uh...ah...hmm...hold up just a second, there. I never did get your name," he told her.

"Stop," she spat. "No names. Keeps us from get'in tae familiar."

"Okay, so what can I call you?"

With a tight smile, she said. "Ye decide,"

He looked at her hair. "How about, curls—"

"No."

"Bow?"

"That's ridiculous."

"Red?"

"Give me one more gammy name and ah won't hesitate tae shoot ye."

"Jeeze," Hiccup scoffed as he took a few steps back. He scratched his chin with his thumb, trying to think of a decent title to label this hotheaded female.

"How about…Arrow?" Merida widened her eyes. "Just a thought!" He added hurriedly when he saw her blunt reaction.

"Nae, that's actually grand!" She raised her arms upward in delight. "Arrow it is, then."

"Hmm, how about ye? Le' me think of somethin' splendid as well," Merida tapped her bottom lip with her finger while looking at Hiccup from head to toe. He was brimming with curiosity by the look on his face.

"Helmet?" Merida turned to Hiccup, who slunk his shoulders down. _Not as great as Arrow, _he thought. But even if he really wanted to change it, he didn't want to because for women like Merida, insulting, was _no_t a good idea.

"I like it. It's very…unique." He said in a dry voice, yet glee was roughly blended with it. From behind, Toothless snorted, as if ridiculing the name. Angus flicked his ears back and forth as he listened absentmindedly to their conversation.

"Ah thought so, too," she told him, a bit proud with having thought of it. Besides, it was the thing that got him here in the first place, wasn't it? So it was just the perfect nickname for him. "We go' off in a bit of a rough start. Introduce ourselves again, shall we?"

Merida approached the Viking, and swept herself in a low curtsy. "Ah am Arrow of Dunbroch, pleased to meet yer acquaintance, good sir. And Ah think it's high time tha' Ah finally thank ye for saving my life at least twice in two days."

"Don't mention it," he relied icily. _Really, don't. It's the last thing I want to remember because all I do keep regretting what I keep NOT doing to you, _he thought.

Merida placed her hands on her hips. "Yer turn."

Hiccup awkwardly bended over with his left hand over his chest, uncertain of how to proceed. "Helmet of Berk, pleased to meet your acquaintance as well, good lady."

He earned himself a frown from Merida. "Ye don't say, 'good lady' lad. Didn't yer parents teach ye proper etiquette?" Toothless snickered, much to the dismay of Hiccup.

"We're Vikings. We don't do proper." He said with a quirk in his lips that might have been a smile, or a grimace. He shot his head around to face his dragon with a death glare. "Shut up, reptile." The dragon reeled back his boisterous lark and growled at Hiccup.

"Then it's time ye finally do. Yer in Scotland now. No more of all…this"

"But you just gestured to all of me." Merida shrugged her shoulders in response. To her chagrin, he was speaking softly, and unexpectedly kind, with none of the Viking traits to which she has ever been familiar with.

She pursed her lips, nodding slightly. "Just, no funny business. Ah might be givin' ye a chance, but if ah see threat, things could end worse."

"Really, huh? You…you think I'm threatening?" He asked. "You don't think I'm scrawny?"

"Nae a' all. Ah wouldn't say yer scrawny, but erm…well ye are, but ah wouldn't say it."

Hiccup gave her a measured look, "Thanks, I think."

"So when dae we start this dragon training?" She asked.

He cleared his throat. "I probably won't have anything on my hands for the next couple of weeks."

"We start tomorrow?"

He shrugged. "As I've said, I don't have anything much to do around here…except, you know. Just blend."

"Tomorrow, it is." Hiccup shrugged again.

Merida noticed it this time. "There ye go again. Why dae ye keep shrugging, shrugger? It's driving me bonkers." Before Hiccup could do the same irritating gesture, Merida shot him dagger glares.

The sun was already beginning to disappear from the peak of the horizon. The warmth of Hiccup's green eyes broke through her nerves, drawing a question from her she'd been trying to ignore. "Where will ye bide?"

"I'll find some shelter." He told her.

"Nae, tha' won't be necessary," she started. "As a simple thank ye fer savin' my life, why not bide at my place?"

He shook his head. "I appreciate that, but I like to earn what I get."

Merida frowned. "Aye, but ah'm afraid yer gallantry for the past hour has already paid tha' cost."

"Look, as much as I want to come, I can't leave Toothless alone. He can't make it out on his own without me," he explained. "And I don't think your family is passable with the idea of having dragons in their country. Our plan, remember?"

"Ah see," she did remember how her mother, Elinor, was not very fond of pets, let alone a dragon. "Will ye be a'right ewt here?"

"Yeah, I'll just have to find a place where Toothless can stay unseen."

"Try the caves down there," Merida pointed toward dark hidden crags underneath the gorge. "It's no' much, but it's enough to keep yer dragon dry."

Hiccup nodded. "Thanks,"

"Sae, ah'll be comin' by any day of the week," she told him as she walked away to mount Angus. "By the lake?" She swung herself on the saddle and tightened her grip on the bridles.

"I'll be here…" he said before Merida yanked on the reins and set off towards the other side of the forest. "Maybe."

* * *

She didn't notice it was sundown until darkness loomed over her head and trees emitted drones of insect whirring in sync. She and Angus wove through the pines, occasional twisting yet leading steadily uphill towards the castle. The dark steed slackened his gait from a canter to a trot when they reached a clearing. All this while, Merida was quite satisfied none of the suitors have found her and imagined the courtyard bristling in anxiety for her arrival. It was just what she needed to show everyone that she wasn't a damsel in distress.

Hurriedly, she passed through the gates with a waggish sneer, anxious to see the looks of the suitors humiliated in front of her.

What she noticed was unexpected. There was a huge gathering in the middle of the courtyard, and there were frightened gasps of women and curses muttered by men.

Merida dismounted Angus, and pushed her way inside the circle. As soon as she reached the middle, she gasped and covered her mouth. Young Macintosh was bleeding terribly. He put a hand over his thigh where the source of the blood seemed to seep through. Blood surged in between his fingers and his kilt was stained in dark, burnt streaks.

"Out of my way!" Lord Macintosh pulled a few men blocking him and knelt down beside his son.

"Malcolm, speak to me, lad!" Malcolm coughed a few times, spitting blood boring in his mouth. "Are ye a'right, son?"

Malcolm gave him a pained smile. "Never better."

"What happened, lad? Can ye still remember?" His father asked him.

Malcolm slowly closed his eyes.

At this, Lord Macintosh gasped and began to panic. "Don't die on me, son! Wake up!"

"Relax, ye woman. Ah was just thinking." He spat. He turned towards the other lords, his vision a bit vague, but his memory was without a doubt, crystal clear.

"Somethin' attacked me in the woods. It was a flash of orange an' white, an' it had huge horns an' wings and…" he paused. "Ah could have sworn it breathed fire."

There was an unbearable space of silence, but Lord Dingwall, who was standing there all the while, it was just that nobody could see him with his height, began to laugh. Hard. And hysterically so.

"It seems the poor lad had gotten the knocking on his head a wee bi' harder than we thought," he grabbed hold of his chest to keep himself from collapsing. Wee Dachlan Dingwall began to laugh hysterically as well. McGuffin joined in, along with his son, Gavin McGuffin, and soon, the whole courtyard was bustling with people chuckling to one another and whispers of 'Gone mad, that laddie has,"

"Come, now, Malcolm. Ah'm sure it was just a bear." Macintosh told his son. "Ye expect me tae believe ye saw a dragon?"

"Ah know wha' ah saw father. Ah can't believe even ye won't believe ah word ah say."

"Yer being ridiculous, lad. Man up. Fairytales are for children." He stood up and walked away to find healers and such.

"Bu' it wasnae!" He shouted but his father turned deaf ears on him. Merida stepped closer to Malcolm, who wore a bitter grimace because of the people making fun of what he saw.

"Gae on, princess. Make fun like the lot of them," he scoffed.

"Nae, nae ah won't," she murmured. Malcolm was surprised she took him seriously. "Breath fire, ye say?"

He nodded. "Aye, an' very nasty. It nearly burned me leg off."

"We'll get it patched up as soon as possible." Merida told him before letting a few soldiers step in her way and place him in a stretcher. He hissed at every muscle he moved. His other leg was still in one piece but burned. His skin was crisp on the edges and bruised terribly.

"Wha' did ye say it looked like?" Merida asked, miffed she was taking his side because she was the only one knew that he was telling the truth.

Malcolm ignored the pain for a moment as he brushed the hands of the healers away. "It had two curved horns on the sides of its head. It's neck was sae long and it's span wider than our pastures or fields. It was unlike any ah've ever seen. It was sae massive,"

"If it was that massive, isnae it impossible than none of us saw it?"

"Ah'm not so sure either. But wha' was far more disturbing, was after scorching me leg, it didn't finish me off. It waited till ah was nearly a half dead goose. It was as if it only attacked me tae scald me," It seemed very suspicious, indeed. Why in the world would a creature attack to harm only? Usually, they'd attack for food or survival. But this case was different. "It dinnae want food. It wanted me." Malcolm finished.

Merida had enough of unusual. In fact, she was getting sick of being bombarded with oddities all in one day. "Ye should get tae the castle. The wounds are not going tae heal itself." At the intervals of her mind, she kept thinking how there were more of those things besides Toothless. She couldn't help but shudder at the thought. Quickly, she walked beside the people hurrying towards the castle with the blistered young suitor.

She looked back. The forest stood in its giant hulky shape, looming over fields and pastures owned by her kingdom and worked by servants. Something bigger existed. Something different from everything she was told of.

Merida doubted what she encountered in the woods really happened. But the pattering of her heart, the soreness in her back, and her missing bow reminded her that all was in fact, true. Was she really given a way to change her fate? She couldn't turn back now. She had waited for this opportunity.

Everything was going to change the way she wants it to. Her pulse rippled with anticipation as the doors closed behind her.

* * *

Still, that night, the Grand Hall was bursting in protests, shouts and insults. There were cacophonies of uncontrollable mirth, and shrieks of denial voiced by outraged lords arguing as to who shall have the honor of hunting down the beast. Elinor cupped her face in irritation.

"Where is Merida? She should have been here an hour ago." But the other lords' nitpicking at each other drowned the sound of her complaints to her husband, who grew purpled at each chortling noise the crowd made. "Fergus, will ye please settle their ridiculous rammy?"

"MY son shall kill the beasts, ye grumpy old trolls." Macintosh yelled at them.

"It's a shame YER son is getting' fitted for angel wings, now is he?" Dingwall chuckled, flapping his elbows to mimic said angel.

Lord McGuffin raised his voice. "MY son is the only one who can kill the beast. He scuttled the Viking warships, and with his bare hands, vanquished two thousand foes!"

"MY son vanquished ten thousand foes!" Dingwall shouted.

"LIAR."

"WIMP."

"BAMPOT."

"SHUT IT, ye bloomin' idiots!" Fergus roared after gathering all the energy he had left for screaming. "We're civilized people havin' a civilized meeting. We are not like those barbaric Vikings, ye understand? Now, show a little decorum!"

He sat down in his throne, frustrated, and raised his arm towards the people huddled in the hall. "Leave us be. We sort ewt this problem alone." The people sighed, and went out of the room reluctantly, leaving the lords, the King and Queen to talk privately about the matter. The young suitors (excluding Malcolm) were already passed out somewhere inside the castle because of their exhaustion in searching for Merida. Watching the people ebb from the room, Elinor caught sight of Merida shoving her way towards her throne.

"Merida, where were ye? It isn't safe to gae ewt anymore with the beast somewhere in our woods."

"Ah helped the nurses in aiding Malcolm. Tha' wee lad kept fidgeting and wouldn't stop screaming like a woman," Merida laughed, and through a peripheral glance, Macintosh glared in annoyance. Elinor sighed as her daughter marched up towards her throne just beside Fergus.

"A 'right, where were we? Ah yes, there is the matter of the loose beast. Ah'm afraid all further activities shall be discreet fer now."

Dingwall abruptly turned his gaze towards the Royal Family. "What abewt the second challenge?"

"We'll have to postpone it, milord." Elinor told him disappointingly. "Until young Malcolm is in better condition and the beast has been captured and gotten rid of."

The King slunk back in his chair and thought about this for a moment. Second Challenge? Terrifying beast? What were the odds of that entire thing happening in a coincidental time frame? He suddenly got himself an idea. "Elinor, dear, we may not have tae kill it."

His wife looked at him as if she was looking at some lunatic. "Are ye mad, Fergus? The boy was almost killed!"

"We'll have the beast in chains and get the suitors to slay it. Imagine what those Vikings would think if we capture it and have them realize they were done by the youth of our country. They'd be terrified of us!"

"Ah don't know, Fergus. It's nae safe."

"That's a grand idea, my King!" Macintosh said. Of course, after being embarrassed by the fact that his son was almost torched, he thought the best way to earn his son's respected title back was by slaying the beast. The other lords nodded in agreement thinking what a relish it would be to have their son kill a very formidable beast.

Elinor still thought it was very dangerous, but then again, these men were mad. They could kill beasts a hundred times their size if they wanted to. "Ye decide, Fergus. Just make sure those chains are locked up tight."

"Yer a darlin', my wee lass!" He said happily as he tried to give her thank you kiss. Elinor rolled her eyes and brushed him away in embarrassment. "We'll send scouts to scour every perimeter of the forest until this beast is found. And then shall the suitors have the privilege of killin' it!"

"Wait!" Merida nearly stood up from her seat. What if they found Helmet and Toothless in their search? It would ruin her plans. "Ah'll go help find the beast."

Elinor stood up. "Merida, its tae dangerous! Ah forbid it."

"Nae, mum. Ah think ah know where tha' beast went. Ah heard something on my way 'ere—"

"Which way, lass? Tell us now!" McGuffin demanded. As far as Merida was concerned, everything happened in North East, just on Gairn Loch. _  
_

"West! South West!" she lied, hoping misdirection would buy her more time.

"A'right, tehn! We lords shall scour the West!" Dingwall raised his arm in pride. "An' we shall find this beast!"

Fergus laughed. "Tha' won't be necessary, boys. We'll be appointing our two new most seasoned knights for this job."

"Wossat?" The Lords scrambled down from the table they proclaimed their victory rock. "An' oo' are they?"

The King smiled and looked at the lords with an impish fluke. "Bring in the Gutspill Brothers!"

Dingwall cackled to the other lords. "Gu'spill brothers, wha' is tha', some kind of wee babbie's name, har har ha—"

His voice was cut off mid chuckle when a sword brushed on the underside of his chin. "You do know what gut spilling means? Don't you?" A man sneered haughtily, in a not very Scottish accent. "It means if I go any further than to where this polished blade is dying to go, it means I can slide this down, " Dingwall gulped as the blade grazed down to his chest, not hard enough to puncture his skin, but firm enough to leave a thin red trail. "And all those long, nasty things that keep you little vermin alive, will be sallying its body in a bloody red cascade down the floor—"

"Dagur, how many times have I told you we don't threaten allies?" His brother told him. Dagur didn't realize he was gripping Dingwall's collar and was already lifting him a few feet from the ground. He immediately dropped him to the floor, although there was evidence of an unregretful smirk plastered to his face.

"I'm sorry. He looked more like an animal to me, Rugad." Dagur told him as he wiped his hands Dingwall-free.

Fergus stood up and extended his arms. "Dagur the Deranged and Rugad the Ruthless. Wha' a pleasure it is tae see ye again."

"'Oo are these people, Fergus?" Macintosh interrupted. "They smell like barbarians tae me." He noticed Dagur also had blue paint slashed over his cheek as if three talons clawed them.

"We hail from the lowlands, milord." Rugad told him. His face was quite similar to his brother Dagur, but he seemed much more sane and more civilized. They both wore chain suits embroidered in leather vests and weapons were shackled to their backs in a crossed position. So wound up were they in armaments, they would have needed eight limbs to use them all at once.

Dagur walked up to Merida and bent over in a mock bow. "The pleasure is all mine, my princess." He took her hand, and gently kissed her knuckles. Merida rolled her eyes.

"Hmph, peasants." McGuffin huffed.

"Grandees, enough!" Elinor commanded, which was enough to snap silence into the manor. "Dagur and Rugad are two of our best warriors. They are a new addition tae our army since three seasons ago when we were attacked by bears, and they came tae our rescue."

Dagur looked poised as he walked down. "Of course we did. Bears are most easy to kill when their flanks are unguarded. My brother and I were on the verge of losing to this bear an-"

Dingwall coughed to interrupt him. "Ah'm sure the Queen would rather hear stories abewt myself."

"Oh do tell…" Dagur pretended to be eager. "I fancy horror stories."

"Dagur, that's enough." Rugad reprimanded him, to which his brother only responded with a very stiff nod. Rugad turned to the Queen and bowed earnestly. "Why have you summoned us, your Majesties?"

"There's a loose beast in our forest. Young Malcolm claims it rampant and hefty with a very large wingspan and the aid of fire it breathes. His proposals all claim it to be a new breed in our motherland. We've never heard of such an animal."

Dagur the Deranged took out his sword. "Rest assured, my Queen, we will hunt that beast down for you, and especially for the honor of the princess," he smirked at Merida, who merely responded with a harsh glower. "But," he turned around in a downcast gaze. "We are in need of the finest weapons we can find."

Fergus brightened up. "Nae worries, lad. We'll get ye our finest smithies and our most polished blades. Every scalpel, dagger and axe of every size are yers."

"Oh we don't want just any Scottish sword. They must be trimmed, finessed and skimmed in foreign techniques," he told them.

"Foreign? Ah've never heard of such ridiculous methods." The King laughed.

MacGuffin intercepted. "Our Scottish smithies and craftsmen are among the finest in the land. We are not in need of outlandish practices."

"Aye," Macintosh agreed.

"Well we _are_ fighting foreign creatures, so it is probably wise to adjust our tactics in order for us to win," Rugad added. Both Elinor and Fergus looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

"Wha' are ye suggestin', Rugad?"

"All I'm saying is, we need a man of unique abilities. Different plans of craft. Different ways of fashioning a blade. Different from the usual Scottish smithy. A man who has experiences overseas, seen distinctive skills and profound at killing these types of animals."

"Outrageous!"

"Well has any one of you lot ever tried killing an animal of flight? Birds and games, I suppose but what about hundred foot target you all are aiming for?" There was silence in response. Dagur took that as a no.

"Wha' dae ye propose we dae?" Elinor asked.

"Gather all the finest blacksmiths in your country. I will accept the best, and only the best shall have the honor of building my blades. Make announcements. Send out flyers if you have to." He ordered.

Rugad stepped up. "All men capable of making weapons shall present to me their best works, and I shall declare which lad will have this glorious fortune."

"Why not just craft yer own blades?" Dingwall protested.

"I have another task at hand, remember?" He replied with a sneer. Dingwall's forehead scrunched in a furious dander.

Thinking all was settled, Fergus glared at an emissary taking down notes during their discussion. "Well, git on with it! Do what this man told ye! We hinnae got all day!" The emissary nearly dropped his scroll in the sudden outburst of the king. "And add a hundred pounds reward tae encourage those munts!"

The emissary quickly obeyed. He scrambled outside with the scroll dangling in his arms and ran to climb the stairs above the courtyard that was still occupied by alert villagers in case the beast should attack again. The road had been choked with pilgrims and travellers making their way towards cathedrals to beseech for safety.

"Attention! Attention!" He called out. Upon seeing that a number of people had taken their time to listen to his announcement, he rolled down the scroll and read aloud. "The King and Queen of Dunbroch has requested all working blacksmiths in the land to present their finest blades in the honor of fashioning weapons for the defense of our solitary fortress. Only the utmost shall have the privilege to craft the blades of the Royal Family and become a part of the Royal Staff," a few people shook their heads, thinking it would be a waste of time.

"And a hundred pounds of reward shall be given to the winner." The emissary quickly added. All of a sudden, hands jutted upward and there were frantic calls of men dying to sign up. A hundred pounds was enough to buy an entire flock of sheep and cows or even three working horses. The emissary smiled in satisfaction. "The deadline of presentation shall be in three days. Everyone is welcome to participate and—"

He gasped when a strong gust of wind struck him, flapping his loose clothes. Suddenly, it ripped the middle part of the scroll, which coincidentally, had all the necessary information. What were the odds of that?

The stripped paper rode the swells in the occasional rise and fall of the breeze along mossy turfs and eventually away from the vicinity of the castle.

"Rats," he stomped his foot while watching the paper flap its jagged edges as it succumbed to the crooks and crannies of the forest.

* * *

Toothless barfed up a haddock in front of Hiccup, who was shivering quite so in the cave. He stared at the half eaten fish all dribbled with dragon saliva. "No thanks bud. I-I-I'm not hungry." Toothless noticed his rider's stuttering so he flattened out one of his wings and enveloped his rider in a thick leather blanket. "Thanks, bud. It's just, oh gods, I really hate these skirts." Hiccup said, hoping his upright jollity would help him ignore the freezing atmosphere.

"How am I going to find a living around here Toothless? I can't spend a month here hiding in the gorge and eating dragon barfed fish." He asked his dragon as if it could reply. But Toothless was far too busy munching on his bountiful catch of salmon and brown trout.

"You're right," Hiccup said, pretending to interpret his dragon's ignorance. "I'll just stick here and find another way. I mean what was I thinking? A job was going to fall out from the sky?"

The minute he finished his sentence, he was surprised to catch sight of a paper pierced in the branches of white decaying trunks. The paper flapped vigorously against the tempest. Slowly, he got up and yanked the paper from the branch.

"Now, what were the odds of that?" Hiccup grinned before scanning the paper and reading it with much difficulty since he could only understand runic. But he did study the gaelic alphabet before his trip, so he could understand even just a little.

From what he had gathered, there was a competition to be part of the Royal Staff and earn one thousand pounds. Although, he wasn't sure what a thousand pounds were worth because in Berk, they usually just trade cattle and chickens. But to be part of royalty's domain, fine luxury living, and shelter, not to mention how much easier prying into Scotland's people will be if he got that job, that meant something. Besides, he does know everything about smithy because of Gobber and because of always trying to improve Toothless' tail. There were lots of secrets and techniques to it that only he and Gobber knew.

"I can't believe it. It's a sign from Odin, bud. I mean, it's got to be. Here I am looking for a job and suddenly this thing comes along at exactly the same time," He laughed in amusement, before glancing at the casket attached to the back of Toothless. "Now, did we bring that sword I forged last week in Berk?"

* * *

A/N: hah! The longest chapter ever! And now, it is officially the start of the story, with no more Brave plot hanging along the way.

For the girl (I'm assuming you're a girl, I find shippers to be a majority of females) who asked about the Tangled Reference: Yes, it was a Tangled Reference. I am including a wide variety of movies in this story and I shall incorporate them for Mericcup tensions.

So Dagur the Deranged (from Riders of Berk TV series) has a brother in this fanfiction, Rugad the Ruthless. Here in this chapter, Dagur can be seen taking quite a liking to Merida, which you can expect to later build up on the Mericcup conflict (calm down, fangirls, breathe)

I don't know, I guess I interpret Dagur as an ego maniac guy who thinks he can capture all the pretty girls since he's chief of his tribe. In case you're wondering, he and his brother are helping out the Scottish people for reasons that shall be enclosed in the future chapters.

Your thoughts? What kind of dragon was the 'beast' they were all talking about? Winner gets pizza.

-DawnD

(Happy Belated Birthday tae me *throws confetti around*)


	7. Woven Blades

You can figure out what the villain fears by his choice of weapons.

-Connie Brockway

* * *

~O~

These Weapons That Bind Us

~O~

* * *

"That's it, Toothless. Fire it up," Hiccup stood back to avoid the blast of his dragon aiming at the polished sword. Toothless opened his mouth, and a small purple beam churned at the back of his throat, and soon, Hiccup immediately hit the end of the blade with an anvil while it was still torched in red flames. It curved in a small, flattened arc and steamed as he dipped it into a basin of water.

His fingers closed around the handle, and held the weapon up to get a better view. He smiled as the blade caught a rim of sunlight bequeathing a glow "Perfect." He exclaimed after finishing it all night, just in time so he can enter.

Instead of the usual double-edged sword, it was a bright silver sphere, a wholly round blade with a diameter slightly wider than his face and had gleaming points winding its way from the center of the crescent ring. It was perfect, light, and neatly polished in his hand. He gave the sword a good swing. The air hissed as he made imaginary parries. Hiccup was one of the only few people who had mastered this technique of smithy. He knew how to forge weapons that were lighter and sturdier at the same time.

"Endeavour," he said, naming his crafted steel. He ran his palm over its surface, taking the last few minutes to examine his work. Then, he sheathed the sword in a leather wrapped scabbard, slid it inside his travelling bag, and ventured his way to find a castle. Toothless, on the other hand, went back inside the cove to sleep.

But there was something, Toothless could sense it, something was watching him from afar. But it didn't seem to bother the dragon, so he curled up in a ball and dozed off until Hiccup returns.

* * *

Merida slid off her bed, brimming with excitement, leaving the blanket a crumpled heap at the center. She slung her bow and arrow over her shoulder and packed an apple and some cheese in case she got hungry in the middle of her training with Helmet. She was a little restless, battered by fitful events the night before, but she couldn't wait to start her lesson. She buckled her belt and don her favorite leather boots, which were the pair Fergus wore when he was young. Her mother never approved of them because they were too…manly, but they were so much more comfortable than the fitted shoes her mother makes her wear.

She went to the door, but was surprised it wouldn't open even if she yanked it with much force. "Hey!" She peeked her head out of the window carved in her door. "Maudie! I need you!"

Meanwhile, Elinor was just below the stairs, hearing every bit of her daughter's screaming. She turned towards a trembling Maudie and held up a golden key. "Hold this and make sure she doesnae get ewt. Ah'll not risk losing her too."

Maudie took the key and stuffed it protectively in her fist. "What about the beast?"

"Fergus and his men are finding a way to track it down. Just stay put." The maid nodded and watched as the queen departed the castle. She then went back to the kitchen and hoped the princess wasn't in the mood for plotting a way out, which was the one thing Merida was bent on planning to do so.

Merida grappled with the doorknob and tried picking the lock, but to no avail. It wasn't until she heard the sound of little feet scampering about the hallway, occasionally stumbling and tripping. "Boys!" She exclaimed in relief and once again poked her head out in. "Ah need yer help,"

The triplets halt their scampering and turned their heads towards their caged sister. They huddled in front of the door like a cluster of little chicks.

"Ah need ye tae get the key," she said desperately. Harris raised an eyebrow. No way was he about to do a task without getting something in return. "If ye help me, ye can have my dessert for two…" the triplets looked unsatisfied. "…THREE weeks." Hamish raised his hand, beckoning for more.

"Ugh, fine," Merida sighed. "A year," That was just enough for her to earn approving nods from her brothers.

* * *

"Well this was a really smooth idea," Hiccup said as he caught a glimpse of the castle and saw there were hundreds of guards stationed at every tower. He'd heard about the grand fortress' extensive prominence but dismissed these claims as blusters. But he was wrong. The castle boasted swaths of powerful pillars fortified by inner and outer walls. It waned away threats from sea intruders and flaunted the wealth and rich standing of its dwellers.

Here was a seal on the paper Hiccup found, and it looked identical to that of the symbol carved in one of the turrets; a sword crossed by four rings. He didn't know what else to do except wait to be seen.

"HORRIBLE. OUTRAGEOUS. A DISGRACE," Hiccup could see a man yelling at the top of his lungs to another young man. He hollered on some more of how the sword he was holding was very much unbalanced and nowhere near polished. The young man could only bow his head as the taller man flung the sword over the walls of the castle, as if its existence was shameful. Apparently, the young man was the last one to be tested.

Another man, similar looking to the tempered one, stood next to him. "At this rate, we're never gonna catch this beast. It's the last day to choose our apprentice."

"None of those men are fit to forge weapons as excellent as ours. We'll just have to think of something else."

Reluctantly, Hiccup approached the impending fortress, but his worries about how well he could act as a native dallied his actions. He didn't know how to speak with a Scottish accent. What excuse could he make up? What would they do if they found out he was a Viking? Before he knew it, he was already at the front of the gate, shaking rather tremendously.

"Halt!" the man whom he saw screaming twenty seconds ago, demanded. Hiccup instantaneously froze, rearing his guard when he grabbed the attention of the soldiers stationed at the towers. "Wha' is yer business here?"

"I-I found this paper," Hiccup reached down his pocket to pull out a crumply yellow paper. "And I believe your monarchs have requested the aid of men who can forge foreign weapons,"

"They asked for _men_, boy," he spat, addressing to the little Viking's scrawny figure.

Hiccup stiffened a little. "I have a weapon, sir." He was about to reach the bag behind his back where his scabbard was when a dozen guards pointed their spears at him, threatened by his actions.

"Drop it!" They ordered. Hiccup obeyed and set his rounded scabbard down. "Now slide it over," He kicked the sword with his foot, letting it slide towards the man stationed at the gate. He unlocked the doors to retrieve the object and picked it up with a roguish smirk. It sort of nerved Hiccup a little because he looked liked the kind of man who can kill another when displeased.

"What kind of sword is this? A spinning top?" He ridiculed, twiddling the object between his fingers as if it were child's play. _Hmm, Outlander?_ Hiccup thought, for the man did not seem to possess Scottish descent.

"With all due respect, sir," Hiccup started." The King and Queen has requested for assistance, and I have a right to come in,"

"And I, as the bodyguard for the Royal Family, have the right to slaughter you on the spot…" he looked as if he were starving for a delicious kill. "…Without cause?" He was staring at Hiccup, eyes intent.

"What's this again, Dagur? Must you always have to greet people with something pointing at them," the man standing next to him said. Like Dagur, he also wore two axes strapped across his back.

"Must you always have to interrupt every opportunity I get, Rugad?" Dagur replied in irritation. Rugad nodded his head towards the soldiers at the front. "It's alright, lads. You can lower your weapons. I got this." Rugad faced Hiccup, who had his arms up in surrender.

"Name,"

"Hic—uhh," _Quick, Hiccup think. _What was his fake name again? The one he told Arrow? "Helmet, sir."

"Helmet?"

"Yes, sir."

"From?"

"Ahhh," Hiccup cringed, trying to gather his wits. _This is hard._ While reading the Book of Scotland, he picked up a fact that Stornoway writhed Norse control in recent years. That mere detail can explain if he ever adapted Viking traits. "I was raised in an island in the Outer Hebrides."

"Outer Hebrides, you say? That island suffered extreme aggressions from the Norse. It doesn't surprise me you people are constantly improving your weapons."

"Experience wagers the tools, sir. I've been forging blades since I was little. But it's become costly," Hiccup explained. "My folks sent me here hoping I'd get a job."

"Ah, a smithy of our field would serve you a great purpose." He remarked. He took the blade from his brother's hands and began examining every gleaming point. "I've never seen a blade like this."

"Yes, it is most odd." Dagur rolled his eyes. "It's small, insignificant and it looks as if they're children's play things."

"Yet it is sharp, light and balanced from the center. I believe I can run anything through it."

"Tell me when it can run through haggis and I'll have a look-see at that kitchen utensil," Dagur laughed, walking his way back to the gates.

Rugad began to spin the blade with his fingers, twiddling it around until he felt the speed and power of the blade increase with each swipe. Finally, his fingers loosed their grip around the handle and he suddenly threw it upwards to the sky. It made a sharp turn before it could sail to the forest and suddenly bolted right into Dagur's axe, which was a whole three inches from his face, splitting it apart as if it were made of brittle threads, and swiftly boomeranged right back to Rugad's hand.

He smiled in satisfaction, fiddling the blade between his fingertips. "This…" he said breathless, taken aback by the power he wielded. "…Is one of the most exceptional weapons I've ever handled. I feel as if I can do it again with my eyes shut."

"Don't try it," Dagur scoffed, discarding his split axe to the ground. "With luck, I'll have half my face had you throw it again."

"That won't be necessary. I believe you owe…Helmet," Rugad cast a sidelong glance at Hiccup, whose face was alight with sudden pride. "…an apology."

Dagur stood leaning on his left foot, eyes unmatched in hardened glares at his brother. He extended his right arm towards the castle. "Right this way, chosen one."

It was needless to say Hiccup was trembling with anticipation as he stepped into his enemy's territory. Passing by the houses plodded along the walls of the castle, they made their way towards the manor inside the castle. The estate hustled with such activities. Peasants and servants hurried about, attending to their tasks. Fires roared with each sizzle emerging from the kitchen. Sheep and hens ran about in tight bundles, herded by massive dogs roaming in the courtyard.

Guards from the inside pulled open the door for the seasoned knights, and scuttling behind them was Hiccup at lost for words and the majestic appeal of the environment he entered. Berk was nothing this fancy compared to this. No wonder his father wanted to raid this country so much.

When he wheeled around to face the throne room, his lips parted slightly at the sight of King Fergus seated in his throne and beside him was his wife, Queen Elinor. Fergus nodded when the knights kneeled, and bid them to rise. He then turned around to whisper something to his wife's ear. "Elinor dear, where is Merida?"

"Ah've instructed Maudie tae keep her inside her room until the beast is found. That way, she'll be safe,"

"Good. We'll do everything we can tae hunt that beast down as soon as possible." Elinor nodded, satisfied with her husband's confidence.

Rugad approached him with a ghost of a smile gracing the curves of his mouth. "Your Majesty," he bowed. "I'm pleased to say I have found the ideal blacksmith for your army, sire."

"Aye, ah knew ye'd find him sooner or later. Where is the lad so ah can give him my proper bidding?"

Dagur shoved Hiccup forward, which, to his dismay, made him topple and collapse in front of the king himself. Fergus craned his neck at Hiccup, whose face remained glued to the floor. "Rise, lad. A bit overwhelmed to meet the king, eh?" Fergus laughed.

Hiccup slowly rose, cringing as he wiped his cheek. "Afraid so, sir."

"Not from around here, eh?" He asked, noticing the loss in accent.

"From the Outer Hebrides."

"Ah! We share the same hatred with those putrid Vikings then!" He exclaimed, slamming Hiccup's back.

"Yes, sir. We do." He replied while massaging his arm.

Fergus straightened his back. "Ah'd like tae know the name of the lad whom my knights found fitting for the craftsmanship of me blades."

"H-Helmet, sir." He replied with hesitation.

"Quite a noteworthy name ye got there. Reminds me of a hat," he chuckled.

Hiccup tried to sound as politely as possible. "Uh, it is, sir."

"Well bugger me. Might ah see that weapon ye made?"

"Of course, sir. It's called the Endeavour." He reached for the weapon Dagur held in his hand and held it up for the king to scrutinize. When his gaze lingered to the small rounded weapon fitted into Hiccup's palm, he let out some sort of unconvinced laugh.

"This…this is it?" He asked, the lilt of his voice suggesting mockery. Was this measly scalpel worth a hundred pounds?

"The best is not always the most obvious, sir," Rugad answered for him, sparing Hiccup the embarrassment of an attempt at spluttering a response.

"Aye," Fergus said, picking the sword of from Hiccup's extended hands. He made a sound that blended frustration and disbelief, "But it is quite different from the weapons my men are used to,"

"Then I believe it's time for a change," Rugad told him, "This style of weapon might just be vital to becoming the greatest of men,"

"That's ridiculous. What we have today are fit for wars and battles of even the most advanced of people."

"But it isn't only people we are fighting, Your Majesty."

"Aye. But it'll take probably weeks to get the men used tae this," he glanced at the Endeavour. "Time is a luxury we don't have, soldier."

"Neither are the men used to fighting beasts. I would think it wise to adjust our tactics as early as possible before the Vikings attack," Rugad continued with his militant insistent.

Fergus had already made up his mind. "Should the Vikings attack any moment, my army can hold them off indefinitely with the fortified castle,"

"But your Majesty…"

"Ah resent yer proposal. Our weapons stay as they are," Fergus remained adamant, turning around with the weapon to discard it.

Heat rushed through Hiccup's cheeks, both from anger and humiliation the minute he heard Dagur snickering beside him as if he took pleasure in seeing him smothered in indignity. But Rugad, who has seen the potential in the blade, wasn't thinking about giving up. As soon as Fergus turned his back and walked away, he took one of the axes strapped to his back and gripped it rather tightly.

Before attempting to hurl it at the King, he called out, "Your Majesty!"

There was a loud clang, a deafening ring that echoed when Fergus instinctively wheeled around to parry the axe plummeting towards him. In an instant, the axe was split, torn in cheddars of russet bark. The king looked at the felled stick and returned his gaze towards the curved blade he insulted moments ago. Elinor gasped in astonishment. The blade had cut through the axe as if it was a mere sheet of fabric.

Though surprised by the sudden attack, he regained his posture and turned towards Rugad, his anger provoked in a scornful accident. "What was that, soldier? Mutiny?" He spat.

"A simple demonstration to show you the power of the weapon you denied," Rugad spoke unafraid.

Elinor whispered behind her husband's back. "The lad is right, dear. The best is not always the most obvious. You cannot feign on the surface of what is before you,"

"Ah-Ah," he couldn't find the words to object his wife. Sometimes, he hated himself for submitting almost always to her. Facing the brave knight, he took the blade and held it near Rugad's face. "Yer certain this blade will rid of us the beast and help us win the war with the Vikings?"

"Affirmative." His unwavering tone was enough to convince the king.

"Then do as you must." Fergus approached Hiccup, and smiled apologetically. "Forgive me for underestimating you. Impressive skills, ye got, lad. Here's yer reward," He tossed to Hiccup a bag of gold coins. He returned Fergus with a forced smile, before pulling the string off the bag to uncoil the money the paper he found had promised. "Oh and ye can get yer sword back," he handed him the Endeavour.

Rugad gave him a pat on the back in congratulations. "Come with us, Helmet. I'll show you the smithy,"

Hiccup looked back to see Fergus depart from his throne with the Queen. He did it. He finally got himself a job in Scotland. It was one step closer to finishing what he came here to do.

"Oof," he choked when he bumped into a very annoyed Dagur.

"Watch it." He snapped coldly. Hiccup rolled his eyes, showing the same dislike towards him. Rugad chuckled behind.

"Don't worry. He grows on you."

He shook his head, "Yeah, but so does leprosy."

* * *

Now at the very second Hiccup entered the manor, the princess was still trying to find a way out.

Merida found no use in picking the lock with a hairpin. But then, she heard the familiar giggle of lads crouching in front of the door. Hamish carried Hubert on his back, and Hubert lifted Harris on his shoulders so he can reach up to the window where Merida can reach for the key. She didn't know how they did it, but she didn't doubt they did their work cleanly, for it seemed as if Maudie didn't notice anything.

"WHERE ARE THOSE BOYS?!"

Or not. Merida could hear Maudie's approaching footsteps, so she quickly worked her way to unlocking the door. It clicked and screeched open.

"Thanks, boys!" She exclaimed, before fleeting towards the opposite end of the hall. The triplets stood back to avoid being trampled by her hurrying footsteps. Making her way through the catacombs, she ran through the cellar door slightly ajar and rapidly descended the staircase. She made it past the wine casks, growing satisfied that she could no longer hear Maudie's steps in pursuit of her. The path gave way to another door, which led to the manor. She quickly pulled the iron ring and the door groaned open.

Happy to leave the cellar behind, she slammed it shut with her back pressed against it. She crept along the wall so as not to be seen.

"How am ah supposed to make it past the guards?" She mumbled to herself. There seemed to be only one way out of the castle, and this guard had eyes on whoever walks in and out of it. As she began to ploy a way out, Merida noticed a man carrying a handful of weapons approach the guard.

The peasant gave a snort as he lifted the weapons in his arms. "Delivery for the Royal Smithy." He said.

The guard glanced at the heavy load. "You may go." He nodded, and the peasant went on his way. Little seconds later, another one came by his side, hinting for permission. From his angle, the guard couldn't see the stranger's face given the reason he or she was wearing a cloak over his or her head. The stranger lifted the pile of weapons up for the guard to see and Merida spoke in the lowest voice she could muster.

"Delivery for the Royal Smithy,"

He raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Another one?"

"These are dangerous times, sir. The King has requested for all weapons tae be enhanced at once,"

He shrugged, stepping to the side to give the stranger way. "You may go,"

"Thank ye." She replied and hurried outside, worried that further speaking, he might actually notice something. Only then when she broke into the barracks did she drop all the weapons she was carrying and slammed herself into a heated run.

* * *

Hiccup kept up his quick pace as he followed Dagur and Rugad to the smithy. Since weapons were given great importance in the wake of wars and battles, it was hidden in fortified walls and layers of chambers leading to distant halls. He began to wonder how many years had passed since any man had lit the torches that now brightened his path. The curving passage sloped deeply down, as if it led to Hell Hind's Gate itself.

Here, the narrow corridor soon widened into an open chamber. Dagur placed his hands behind his back, taking a turn as he circled Hiccup. "Welcome to Wonderland."

Hiccup's nose wrinkled as mists of smoke wafted odors of burnt metal and piping steams. Unlike many other rooms, this chamber was a perfect circle. The temperature there was remarkably higher for in the center of the room squatted a swelteringly hot forge. Fire barred swords laid across its bowels, roaring despite the absence of a blacksmith to stoke its rebellious furnaces.

Dagur grinned. "Liking it? I thought this place might as well be Valhalla for talented blacksmiths like you," _Valhalla?_ Hiccup thought. _That's Viking folklore. _

Rugad pushed him aside. "Never mind him. You'll be spending most of your time outside the barracks everyday after you've finished forging the weapons. I'll help you with them."

Hiccup let out a sigh of relief. "So, when do I start?"

"Tomorrow, I believe. Take your time in adjusting yourself to Castle Dunbroch. It's a pity to be in the Outer Hebrides. Always being raided by the Vikings."

"Yeah…" he tried to sound sorry for himself.

"I'll show you how to handle the tools in this forgery. It's best to know where you can get the finest chisels and anvils to replicate that excellent sword of yours."

Hiccup beamed. "On the contrary, I won't be replicating it. My mentor taught me different improvisations I can do with metal. But they'll all be as light and as sturdy as this one," he lifted the Endeavor, almost as light as a plume.

"Excellent. And I'll introduce you to the staff working around the castle. You'll want some company since this will be your new home. And you might even get to meet the princess and—"

Dagur immediately came in between Hiccup and Rugad. "No, no, no, no, no. You stay away from the princess. The Royal Family has assigned me as her personal armament for now. Then again, as I continue to think about it, why would she even bother to take notice of you,"

"I wouldn't mind if she did—"

"Shut your mouth when you're talking to me." He snapped and leaned in closer. "You are never to meet the princess. You are never to come across her footsteps. Know where you stand. You belong in the mud. Am I making myself clear…Helmet?"

Hiccup nodded with a brief roll with his eyes. "Like water."

Reaching Hiccup just in time, Rugad dragged him away to avoid anything happening to his only apprentice. The young boy scratched his head in irritation as he whispered a shriek. "Was he permanently cursed or something?"

"Sometimes, I wonder about that too," He answered with a laugh before opening the door to their room. "Here we are,"

There were beds and desks milled about in the hall at regular intervals, of which only two were occupied. "You're free to choose whichever cot you want. They each come with a desk where you can draft your plans,"

Hiccup approached one of the beds nearest to him and settled his bag to the floor. The wooden table next to it had sheets of paper and, a small flask of ink, and a delicate swan feather for a quill. Picking it up, Hiccup stroked the length of the feather to calm his nerves.

"I appreciate it. Thank you Rugad and…" he hesitated before finally sputtering a response, "…Devil-I mean Dagur," he corrected quickly with a mocking snicker. Rugad had to pretend he was blowing his nose to quell his amusement.

It was clear Dagur took no heed of whatever insult was thrown at him. He was a man completely sure of himself. The sword hissed in protest as he drew it from his scabbard. "Don't think you're one of us yet." As he passed by Hiccup to depart the chamber, he said. "I'll be watching you,"

"I appreciate that, thank you." He said, sarcasm dripping coldly from his voice. As soon as the door slammed behind him, he glanced at Rugad, convulsed with anxiety.

"What's the catch about the princess?"

"Oh, I believe he fancies her. He'll threaten any suitor who dares take her hand," he told him. Hiccup snorted.

"He can have her all he wants. I'd never want anything to do with the princess."

"Then I thank you for his sake," He smiled. "But all this time spent in pursuing her will be all for naught since the princess shall be getting married in a month's time," Rugad straightened himself. "And that will also be the time we will expect a satisfactory result from your blade crafting. This will be your final test into proving yourself a worthy man for the job."

A month? A thousand weapons to forge? Even Rugad seemed to think this was impossible. But Hiccup's mind was at ease. There was something he had that the Scotts don't. A dragon. He just had to find an excuse to leave the castle everyday and spend his time crafting the blades at the cave where they spent their first few nights in Dunbroch.

"Not to worry, my friend. You still have ample time to prepare all those weapons. Enjoy it while it lasts."

"While it lasts," Hiccup repeated, pondering in what those words meant. In a month or less, his people would soon invade this country, and with his help, this place will end in war, chaos and ruin.

"I best be off, Helmet. I've this thirst for hunting," Rugad told him as he ran eagerly out of the chamber with weapons clanking on his hip. Since his work starts tomorrow, Hiccup decided it best to see Toothless again and even bring him some haddock. Quietly, he left the chambers as well.

* * *

"Sweet auld bonnie woven quaffles," Merida slipped behind a wall when she caught sight of a guard appearing out of a chamber. Her ragged breaths turned into a disgusted scoff. "That auld lad, again."

It was Dagur the Deranged. Merida grew even more repulsed by his presence as his infatuation with her grew even more passionate. He had always had this habit of leering at her whenever she passed by the courtyard.

Fortunately, he didn't see her watching him from afar. He seemed in a hurry for something as he fleetingly unlocked the gates. But the princess did not care. She had bigger problems escaping the citadel.

"Oh, come on, now." She muttered when Rugad exited the doors, dallying her path to reach the gates opened by Dagur. He made his way out of the castle and darted to the wide stretch of the heath tucked in the forested canopy. Looking around to make sure there were no guards to see her leave, she scrambled to the barricade where it separates the forest from the palace. There was a weakness in the wall, you see. And since it was covered by shrubberies and thickets, one wouldn't notice you could easily breach inside the castle.

Only Merida knew about it because she built that breach herself so she can always escape to the shelter of the forest where her mother's exasperating lessons did not reach her. Before she could crawl inside, a familiar voice caught the attention of her ears. Staying as low as possible, she peeked her head out to steal a glance at the owner of the voice. No, it couldn't be.

"I need to go outside. Provisions for the smithy are located in the forest," he said, his back facing her.

The guard opened the gates for him. "Just be back before curfew, Helmet."

"I will," he replied, nodding as the gate groaned in protest. He turned around to bid the guard.

Merida widened her eyes. He was.

Pulling apart the shrubs, she crawled inside the gap and safely pleated it again how it once was; an ordinary looking bush that covered a rupture along the fortification.

Then, as Hiccup ventured his way to the forest, the princess of Dunbroch followed him.

* * *

A/N: Yes, it seems Hiccup still does not know who specifically killed his mother.

Just imagine Hiccup never met Dagur in Riders Of Berk, capiche? I apologise for any grammatical errors and such. Well I hope five thousand words compensates four horrible weeks.

By the way, someone's already guessed what the beast is. You'll get your answer in the next chapter so stay tuned! I'll be publishing it a little earlier than usual because I have to get these Mericcup feels out! My OTP needs me.

Oh, and who's your OTP? I'd love to know my reader's favourite shippings. In truth, I've always liked forbidden ships. Yep. Forbidden Ships are my forte. I hope its not too much trouble to leave a review on how I can improve my writing.

-this is DawnDestination journeying to Sunset.


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